MLB celebrates Earth Day alongside WM, announces annual Sustainability Award winners
Major League Baseball announced today, on Earth Day, its annual Sustainability Award Winners and recognized the year-round greening efforts its Offices, Clubs, Ballparks and overall industry undertake to support their communities. MLB is also celebrating Earth Day with WM, the league’s Official Sustainability Partner.
Now in its third season as the first Official Sustainability Partner of MLB, WM collaborated with the League to create MLB Green Pillars that help guide efforts across the organization. These pillars include: reducing the league’s environmental footprint, developing intentional partnerships, telling inspiring stories, and motivating baseball fans to take action. Additionally, WM again is the presenting partner of Major League Baseball’s official Earth Day and MLB Green Week celebrations.
During the 2025 season, MLB and WM worked together to help improve waste diversion and execute on sustainability-related initiatives across the league offices as well as at events. Office efforts at MLB’s NYC headquarters include composting, reducing single-use plastics with compostable and reusable products, community volunteer events, starting an Office Sustainability Committee, as well as employee education and engagement.
Additionally, WM’s Advisory Services are offered complimentary to all 30 Clubs on behalf of MLB. WM’s Advisory Services group provides end-to-end solutions intended to help customers advance their sustainability-related goals relating to waste reduction and diversion, greenhouse gas emissions management, and more.
By the Numbers: Greening Efforts Across MLB
- All 30 Clubs are playing in ballparks with LED field lighting
- All 30 Clubs have fan-facing water refill stations in their ballpark
- 29 Clubs have bike/scooter parking available for fans
- 28 Clubs operate food donation programs
- 26 Clubs have added composting as a waste stream
- 23 Clubs conduct a post-game dual-stream bowl pick to collect recyclable items
- 20 Clubs have EV Chargers at the ballpark
- 15 Ballparks utilize on-site gardens
Between Regular Season games, MLB All-Star Week, the MLB Speedway Classic and the MLB Little League Classic, Clubs, MLB & WM:
- Donated 180 tons of excess food, providing 300,575 meals to local communities.
- Recycled 2,447 tons of cardboard, the same weight as almost 16 million baseballs.
- Diverted 10,932 tons of recyclable materials from landfill, the same weight as almost 729,000 World Series trophies.
- Composted over 9,200 tons of organic materials, the same weight as almost 14 million baseball gloves.
MLB has recognized Clubs with ceremonial awards for their sustainability efforts for nearly two decades, beginning with the Green Glove Award, which has traditionally recognized the Club that diverts the most waste during the season. In 2024, MLB expanded its commitment to sustainability by announcing three new additions to its League Sustainability Awards. These awards now include the Power Pitch Award for the MLB ballpark that has achieved the highest reduction in energy usage from the previous year through initiatives such as the implementation of better building system management, optimized facility upgrades, and smarter daily energy habits; the H2O Home Run Award for the MLB ballpark that has achieved the highest reduction in water consumption from the previous year through initiatives such as the implementation of high-efficiency irrigation, water-saving technologies, and optimized facility operations; and the Eco-Slugger Innovation Award for the Club that demonstrated leadership through the implementation of an effective and original sustainability initiative during the award cycle. This category is open to any new practice or initiative—ranging from renewable energy and waste reduction to unique eco-friendly operations—that successfully reduced the environmental impact of baseball events.
This year, MLB added one more sustainability award to the rotation with the Diamond Diversion Award, honoring the Club that shows the greatest year-over-year improvement in waste diversion. To ensure a direct comparison, this award tracks a set list of standardized day-to-day operational waste streams, such as recycling and composting. A detailed list of Club Sustainability efforts is available at MLBTogether.com/Green.
MLB Sustainability Award Winners for the 2025 Season
Green Glove Award
Minnesota Twins
The Twins led MLB with the highest total waste diversion rate in 2025.
Power Pitch Award
Chicago White Sox
The White Sox led MLB with the highest reduction in energy usage from 2024 to 2025.
H2O Home Run Award
Washington Nationals
The Nationals led MLB with the highest reduction in water usage from 2024 to 2025.
Diamond Diversion Award
San Diego Padres
The Padres led MLB with the highest improvement in day-to-day stream waste diversion from 2024 to 2025
Eco-Slugger Innovation Award
Atlanta Braves
The Braves earned the MLB Eco-Slugger Innovation Award for implementing a new initiative to divert thin plastic film. Truist Park partnered with the Atlanta Braves Foundation to implement a dedicated collection and logistics plan that diverted over 1,100 pounds of plastic from landfills in half a season. By revamping back-of-house procedures and training staff to separate materials at the source, the Braves successfully converted this waste stream into a durable community bench.
Last year during 2025 MLB All-Star Week in Atlanta, MLB earned the honor and achievement of receiving ‘Gold Status’ from the Council for Responsible Sport for the League’s efforts across the region. With the WM collaboration, during 2025 MLB All-Star Week, WM helped MLB pilot the collection of new waste diversion streams including thin plastic film. In years prior, MLB has consistently earned Gold Status, which is the second highest honor granted by the council and the highest certification of ‘Evergreen Status’ in 2023 during All-Star Week in Seattle.
MLB has earned certifications for the last seven All-Star Weeks including 2018 (Washington, DC), 2019 (Cleveland), 2021 (Denver), 2022 (Los Angeles), 2023 (Seattle), 2024 (Arlington) and 2025 (Atlanta). Through the League’s sustainability efforts, MLB became one of the first major sports leagues to join the Green Sports Alliance, one of the largest, most influential, and initial drivers of environmental and social responsibility across the global sports industry. Additionally, MLB became the first league to have all 30 Clubs participate as members.
The Green Sports Alliance, a non-profit organization that leverages the cultural and market influence of sports to promote sustainable communities and operations, annually celebrates organizations across sports with the Play to Zero Awards. These awards highlight achievements across different categories such as Waste Player, Energy Champion, and Innovation Award to recognize and celebrate innovations in sustainability. This year, six MLB ballparks earned Play to Zero Awards.
MLB recipients of 2026 Green Sports Alliance Play to Zero Awards
- Wrigley Field (Energy Efficiency, Water Efficiency, Renewable Energy)
- Target Field (Energy Efficiency, Material Management, Water Efficiency)
- Rate Field (Energy Efficiency)
- Fenway Park (Material Management & Renewable Energy)
- Petco Park (Material Management & Renewable Energy)
- Busch Stadium (Material Management)
2026 Green Sports Alliance Innovation Finalists from MLB
Community Impact Finalist (winner to be announced May 6 at Green Sports Alliance Summit):
- Target Field (Girls 14u Baseball League)
Environmental Stewardship Finalist (winner to be announced May 6 at Green Sports Alliance Summit):
- Minnesota Twins (Healthy Water Initiative)
Health & Wellness Finalist (winner to be announced May 6 at Green Sports Alliance Summit):
- Atlanta Braves (Los Bravos Un Equipo)