The German women's hockey team has launched a project just before the start of its Olympic central training camp in South Africa. The initiative aims to reduce the so-called "Carbon Footprint," the carbon emissions left by team members and all other athletes throughout their sporting lives. The project is being carried out in collaboration with the Grootbos Foundation in South Africa, with the goal of planting a hockey forest to offset the CO2 impact generated by numerous sports travels.
"We are aware of our CO2 emissions and our responsibility for our planet, and therefore, we want to take action now: We are opening a Danas Hockey Forest!" says Janne Müller-Wieland, the team captain. Anne Schröder adds, "With the help of the Grootbos Foundation, we will be planting many trees during our upcoming training camp in South Africa, which will diligently absorb CO2. This forest will also be available for other nations, hockey players, fans, and supporters to plant. Anyone who has always wanted to work on their ecological footprint can join us and plant their own tree or trees in the hockey forest."
The cost of planting a tree is 25 euros. The DANAS ensure that the trees are planted in their hockey forest and provide a certificate with the coordinates of the trees. All trees donated before January 31, 2020, will likely be personally planted by team members during their central training camp.
"With the FIH Hockey Pro League and the Olympics ahead, another wild travel year is coming up for us and the entire sport of hockey. We are aware that, mathematically, we can hardly keep up with the trees. However, we don't want to be deterred by that and want to make a start. Hoping that many other nations, athletes, and supporters will join us, so we can make a contribution to climate protection," says Nike Lorenz. "Our goal is to plant trees in the Olympic year 2020. So, let's go!"
Donations for the trees are collected through the GoFundMe.com platform.
