Planet Green
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‘Green your game!’ proclaims tennis superstar Venus Williams. In a groundbreaking environmental campaign by the United States Tennis Association (USTA), Williams is requesting the help of all her fans to build a sustainable future for our planet.
In collaboration with tennis legend Billie Jean King, Williams and the USTA have engaged in an extensive campaign to drastically reduce the carbon footprint of the US Open.
With over 700,000 fans, the US Open is one the highest attended sporting events in the world. In 2009, Williams and her collaborators put in place a series of eco-friendly initiatives asking fans to reduce, reuse and recycle. As a result, 28 tons of wood were saved as well as 88 gallons of wastewater - to mention but a few of the many environmental achievements during the two-week event. Drawing on her second career in fashion design, the multi-talented Williams designed a unique, eco-friendly T-shirt for the US Open to raise the awareness of an even broader audience.
More About Venus
Venus Williams is a professional tennis player who has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) on three separate occasions. After turning professional at the age of 14, Williams reached the US Open finals three years later, becoming the first woman in two decades to reach a US Open final on her debut. Her career achievements include 19 Grand Slam titles and three Olympic Gold medals. Along with her younger sister and fellow professional tennis player Serena, Williams was coached by their father Richard Williams, who taught both sisters to play tennis on the public courts of Compton, California, where they grew up.
In 2007, Williams received her Associate Degree in Fashion Design from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, and launched her own fashion line EleVen the same year.
At the 2009 US Open, Williams participated in a wide-ranging environmental campaign created by tennis legend Billie Jean King and the National Resource Defense Council. Called “Green Your Game”, the campaign seeks to reduce the environmental impact of the US Open through recycling efforts and waste management. For the 2009 US Open, Venus designed an eco-friendly campaign T-Shirt and appeared in different PSAs to demonstrate how small changes can have a tremendous positive impact on the environment.
