Rose Parade's 'green' move is a baby step

Back in September, the Tournament of Roses proudly announced American Honda Motor Co. was going to be its first-ever presenting sponsor, "employing Honda's innovative environmental technologies to help the Rose Parade function more efficiently and reduce its carbon footprint."

Which raised the question: What is the carbon footprint of the extravaganza?

It turns out no one knows, and the organizers aren't too eager to find out or make the moves toward zeroing its emissions impact that have been made by major event sponsors such as the NFL, the Olympics, and the Democratic and Republican conventions.

Consider: Every float other than Honda's is powered by a V-8 engine, and in total they'll burn more than 800 gallons of gasoline by the time they roll through the parade. That doesn't count the 80 auxiliary trucks, 145 fleet cars and dozens of police vehicles.

And the flowers? Many hail from as far away as Colombia and Africa. California growers, in fact, say they've been phased out of the festivities for years, in favor of cheaper blossoms flown to Miami and trucked 4,000 miles to Pasadena.

Read more here: Rose Parade moving at a crawl toward being green

-- Geoff Mohan    

Photo: Volunteers decorate Honda's "A World of Dreams" float, to be powered by the automaker's fuel-efficient hybrid technology. Credit: Katie Falkenberg/Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Confused]

So do we expect the T of R to get into the engine manufacturing business? Honda is leading the way because they made the engine. That's what they do. I'm sure the Tournament would be happy to employ a greener float engine when one is available on the market.
The more disappointing news is the circumventing of local growers. Seems the TofR should go out of its way to use local growers where possible, for a reasonable premium.

[byetheway77]

The Rainbird Corporation's float is always a highlight of the Rose Parade. It emphasises water conservation only, not healthy soil or ecology.