Another minor-league baseball team is launching a green initiative, as the New Britain Rock Cats (Class AA; Eastern League) announce plans for an earth-friendly mission.

The Eastern League club, the oldest continuously operating professional sports franchise in the Nutmeg State, has joined forces with four important partners - Allwaste, Lantern Energy, Green Supply Company (mygreensupply.com) and Pepsi - to carry out this new, earth-friendly mission.

Back "in the day", the keys to getting ahead in school were attention to the "3 Rs" - Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmatic. The Rock Cats and their new Green teammates are now focusing their collective energies on an updated set of Three R's: Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling. More specifically:

• Reducing: The New Britain Stadium concourse and front office areas have recently been retrofitted with High Efficiency Lighting and associated controls. The team has partnered with Lantern Energy and the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund, among others, to explore additional energy-saving strategies in the future.
• Reusing: Janitorial supplies used throughout the Stadium campus - garbage bags, paper towels, tissue paper and other materials - will be made from partially recycled content. The Berlin (CT) based Green Supply Company - a leader in supplying schools and businesses with eco-friendly paper goods and cleaning supplies - is making these products available to the Rock Cats.
• Recycling: The Rock Cats and their patrons will intensify recycling efforts in the Stadium for bottles and cans generated by attendees, as well as with paper, plastic, cardboard, and glass resulting from behind the scenes operations. Allwaste from Hartford (CT) is providing a "single source" recycling option for the Stadium. The Rock Cats official beverage partner - Pepsi - has also provided new recycling bins for use at games throughout the park.

The Rock Cats hope the popularity they enjoy with fans and families in Connecticut and Western Massachusetts will enable them to extend these environmentally-friendly practices to the larger regional community they serve. The Eastern League club will launch an in-Stadium educational campaign that will emphasize the importance of "going green" to their fans and patrons. Such messaging will include the distribution of literature (on recycled materials), directing fans to on-line information and resources, green-themed fan promotions, media, video board, and public address system announcements, special event days, eco-friendly informational seminars, and more.

The Rock Cats have also scheduled a special day - Tuesday, August 3rd -- when they will play a "GoingGoingGreen!" game at New Britain Stadium. The New Britain players will wear green uniforms.