Harlem Globetrotters to Use Green Basketball in Clinics

The Harlem Globetrotters, that world-famous team of acrobatic basketball showmen, plans to use to use a special green basketball this month in honor of Earth Day.

 The Globetrotters will use the ball in clinics they’re holding in China. The project was put together by the environmental group Earth Day Network.

 “We are proud to celebrate Earth Day with our fans and help in any way we can,” a team official said.

To learn more, check out this Environmental Expert.com article.

New Rules for High School Football Players Practicing When It’s Really Hot

If you’re a football player, listen up.

If you play any other sport in school, listen up.

As reflected in the new rules for Georgia high school football players, more attention is being paid to student-athletes practicing when it’s really hot.

Heat-related deaths among high school football players reportedly almost tripled between 1994 and 2009.

Bottom line: you’ve got to be careful when Mother Nature is sweating.

Under the new Georgia rules due to take effect Aug. 1, no athlete can participate in full pads until he has completed five conditioning practices in no more than a helmet and mouthpiece.

In addition, two-a-day practices can’t last longer than three hours and no more than a combined five hours of practice per day. 

There’s more. Read all about it in this Times-Herald article.

Environmentalists Want Lead Removed from Hunters’ Bullets

Environmentalists want the US government to get the lead out of the ammunition that hunters use.

Some 100 environmental groups have petitioned the US Environmental Protection Agency to regulate toxic lead in hunting ammunition, arguing that it represents a threat to public health. They point to the widespread poisoning of birds, some of them endangered, from lead shot and bullet fragments left on the ground from hunting.

According to one eco-activist, “The unnecessary poisoning of eagles, condors and wildlife is a national tragedy that the EPA can easily put an end to.”

To learn more, read this Center for Biological Diversity release.

Two College Students Invent a Soccer Ball that Makes Electricity

Jennifer MachettImagine if every time somebody kicked a soccer ball, the force of that person’s kicking motion was harnessed and turned into electricity.

 Two college students, both women, did just that. They invented a ball that has a magnetic device on the inside. The device stores up the energy so that, after a few hours or just a few minutes of kicking, you can plug in a wire with a small light bulb at the tip. The bulb will light up thanks to the energy stored in the ball.

 The two young women point out that in many poor parts of the world, people get the equivalent of smoking two packs of cigarettes a day from the oil-burning lamps they have to use at night.

So they’ve invented something that protects the environment and helps human health at the same time.

To learn more about these two remarkable young women, check out this ESPN post.

n Connecticut, a Debate over Using Pesticides on School Sports Fields

There are some 20,000 pesticides registered with the US Environmental Protection Agency and, in all likelihood, your school’s sports fields probably use one or more of them.

A controversy is building over all this, especially in Connecticut, where pesticide use on school fields is banned – at least right now.

Opponents of the ban are fighting to have it overturned. They argue that people who know what they’re doing can apply pesticides without endangering kids’ health. They further argue that a field that doesn’t utilize pesticides causes more injuries because of weed and crabgrass growth giving it an uneven surface.

It might be a good idea to look into the situation at your school and decide for yourself where you stand.

To learn more, read this article on The Huffington Post.