Superbowl 2008 Green Initiatives

Watching a little bit of Superbowl 2008 made me think about the environmental impact of the event. I figured there would be some attempts made to minimize the impact and I was pretty sure there would be a carbon offset scheme as well. Who could put on a televised event with millions watching and not have some green credibility?

Sure enough a simple search on Google yields some results. Some initiatives were surprising such as donating excess food so it didn't go in the garbage. They also had tree plantings and hybrid cars. The usual debate is whether these large events do enough to offset their impact. I don't mind them making the attempt even though I realize it is for marketing purposes. My problem comes with the whole mindset surrounding these actions. Rather than making a change in our behavior and consumption to meet insatiable desires we will offset our negative impacts instead.