Awareness of Athletes regarding Waste and Environmental Issues Brought about Sports

Abstract

Awareness regarding environmental issues has been increasing over the years, especially with the visible effects of climate change. Pressure from supporters and other stakeholders about sports events drives international sporting organizations to incorporate sustainability when holding large-scale sporting events. With this pressure, the athletes are put in a special position to act on the environmental impacts that may have been directly or indirectly caused by sports. It may be unclear to the athletes where they lie in solving the environmental issues in sports. Literature review and semi-structured interview survey to athletes relating to environmental concerns in sports like waste management, energy use, climate change, and sustainability is carried out descriptively. Academic journals about sporting organization’s perspective on climate change and sustainability have been increasing, however, there is still a lack of research on the athlete’s perspective regarding these environmental issues. Athletes can use their platforms to voice out concerns about the environment. The results of this is helpful in identifying the awareness, actions, and best practices of athletes about waste and environmental concerns because of activities related to their sports.