SEEING GREEN

Even with the game months from kick-off, the NFL is already having a positive impact on our community. You just have to look around.

By David Silverstein

Thursday, March 11, 2010 - 1:00am

Jack Groh’s student pledge to help our environment, Miami Gardens, FL-January 2010

High school students work up a sweat as they plant trees-Weston, FL-December 2009

Poem read by student at school tree planting, Miramar, FL-October 2009/Jack Groh wearing jacket

Miami Dolphins Pro Bowl kicker Dan Carpenter and Dolphins Cheerleaders help students plant trees in Miami Gardens, FL-January 20

David Silverstein is the Director of Communications for the South Florida Super Bowl Host Committee. Having just wrapped up Super Bowl XLIV and the 2010 Pro Bowl, we’ve asked David to write columns for us on what North Texas can expect as we approach Super Bowl XLV on February 6, 2011. In this week’s column, David tells us that even with the game months from kick-off, the NFL is already having a positive impact on our community. You just have to look around.

Some people are born into their professions just by virtue of their last names.

Rockefeller, Carnegie, DuPont, Groh.

Groh???

Jack Groh (pronounced Grow) may not have the name recognition of a Rockefeller, but I assure you, his last name and his profession are a perfect match.

Jack’s the head of the NFL’s Environmental Program.

“Super Bowl has an enormous impact in the host community,” he explains. “We try to reduce the environmental impact and also leave a positive, 'green' legacy behind.”

Look at it this way. You know those recycle bins you have at home? Jack’s the guy who gave those bins to the NFL. Jack approached the League about recycling in the early 1990’s, before being environmentally friendly became a way of life.

Back then, he made sure extra food from the Super Bowl was donated to shelters. Now, NFL Environment has a long standing commitment to a variety of social programs that will have a major impact on your hometown.

Simply put, Jack makes sure North Texas’ first Super Bowl is one of the most green-friendly events on the planet.

And to make that happen, Jack got to work as soon as the final whistle blew on Super Bowl XLIV in South Florida. In fact, you’re about to see a lot of him in North Texas even though he lives in Rhode Island.

In the months leading up to the Super Bowl, Jack likes to plant trees, a lot of trees. So his last name is truly fitting. All over South Florida, trees that Jack planted at schools and in parks are now “Groh-ing up.” Despite that horrible pun, his efforts really made South Florida even more beautiful.

The NFL’s Trail of Trees program connects Super Bowl communities. In 2009, Jack created a trail of trees in cities from Tampa to Miami. Now he’s working on a way to create a “green” connection between South Florida and North Texas.

“We'll work with both host communities over the coming months to find a way to 'pass the branch' from one city to the next and begin the greening process around Super Bowl XLV,” Groh says.

Besides adding to the beauty of North Texas, trees create shade and help our environment by reducing carbon emissions.

But that’s only a small part of the NFL’s Environmental impact on North Texas.

Here’s what else Jack oversees leading up to and even after Super Bowl XLV.

-Solid waste will be recycled at Cowboys Stadium as well as at the Media Center in Dallas and throughout North Texas.

-Cowboys Stadium will use renewable energy during the Super Bowl.

-Extra prepared food from Super Bowl events will be donated to shelters. There’s literally tons of extra food that years ago was tossed out. Now it will go to North Texas’ most needy.

-Reusable materials from Super Bowl events will be donated to local non-profits throughout North Texas. Those donations include banners, decorations, building materials, office supplies and equipment.

-Jack’s wife Susan heads up the Super Kids-Super Sharing Program, where local school children donate their used books and sports equipment to needy children in the North Texas community.

Groh says these programs evolved from simple recycling initiatives the NFL began 17 years ago. Now the League embraces “going-green.” In fact, the NFL wants to ensure the Super Bowl has a positive impact on not only your community, but throughout all of North Texas.

Over the past year, I had the opportunity to work closely with both Jack and Susan. Like me, both are former TV news people who saw the need to help communities rather than report on what’s wrong with them.

It works.  You’re about to see North Texas change for the better right before your eyes. Jack Groh’s last name truly was his calling. Now all he needs is an assistant.

How about George ‘Bush?’ (Sorry for that North Texas, but I couldn’t resist one last pun.)