Building an Ecosystem of Sustainability with the Philadelphia Eagles
Honeycomb Strategies, The Philadelphia Eagles, and The Ocean Foundation on a visit to the mangrove projects of Vieques and Jobos Bay, Puerto Rico, in 2024.
Mangrove forests are powerful systems. They clean pollutants out of the air and water, provide habitat and nutrients for over 1,500 species worldwide, and importantly, when they live in naturally occurring conditions and protections, they thrive as resilient and regenerative collectives.[1] In fact, mangroves are a great symbol for human-engineered sustainability systems. When built and maintained with integrity, sustainability programs move forward with a built-in engine; they renew and thrive without brute infusions of cash or labor, elegantly adapting and improving over time.
Honeycomb Strategies co-founders Lindsay Arell and Amanda Simons smile with Norman Vossschulte of the Philadelphia Eagles outside of Lincoln Financial Field
When Lindsay Arell (CEO, Honeycomb Strategies) began working with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2015, they didn’t set out for Lincoln Financial Field to obtain LEED Platinum, or to save the mangrove forests of Puerto Rico, though in 2024 both of these impressive achievements came to be. Nine years ago, Lindsay partnered with Norman Vossschulte, the Eagles’ Vice President of Fan Experience and Sustainability, to build a system for the Eagles that would grow organically.
Instead of one-time initiatives, they set realistic goals and a mechanism for continual improvement to keep them on track. They have stayed accountable by reporting publicly through the Sustainable Sport Index, and embedded sustainability into the ethos of the organization by building out the Go Green program to incorporate community involvement. Reflecting on the depth and breadth of the program they’ve built, Lindsay says of the Eagles, “they have a strong connection to what they’re doing at a facilities level, but they extend it outside of the built environment to make community and global impact, and that’s why the program really thrives.” Sustainability isn’t separate from fan engagement and building improvements; they’re integrated.
As a result, they’ve attracted partners to commercialize their program, helping to fund initiatives and increase awareness while providing sponsors valuable new ways to reach their audiences. These partnerships include plastics recycling with Braskem, digital solutions with RICOH, and community hygiene with Tork. Meaningful partnerships shore up the sustainability program and enable the Eagles to be genuinely accountable for their environmental footprint in a way that few other professional sports teams are doing.
A centerpiece of that accountability is the Eagles’ novel and ongoing partnership with The Ocean Foundation to support two mangrove restoration efforts in Puerto Rico.
In honor of offsetting the Eagles' carbon footprint from team travel, they make an annual charitable contribution that is earmarked for the mangrove projects, and 100% of that cash goes to the local environmental efforts. It’s a different way of doing carbon offsetting that is more accurate, transparent, and accountable than a more traditional, transactional model, which aligns with the sustainability mission of the Eagles.
Just like the Eagles’ in-house sustainability program, Jason Donofrio (Chief Development Officer of The Ocean Foundation) says that "one of the things The Ocean Foundation focuses on is the word resiliency, which is both environmental and social," leading their mangrove projects to not only invest in but be led by local people. Built with local Puerto Rican conservancies Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and Vieques Conservation and Historical Trust, they maintain mangrove nurseries, excavate an infrastructure of canals to repair bay hydrology, and build a stock of maintenance vehicles and equipment, all locally managed. In fact, once certified, The Ocean Foundation will own no rights to the carbon credits of the projects; they will all be owned locally in Puerto Rico. The closed-loop hyper-locality of this blue carbon project is one of its defining sustainable features.
Lindsay of Honeycomb Strategies and Norman of the Philadelphia Eagles in Puerto Rico
As a testament to the follow-through on all sides of the partnership, the Philadelphia Eagles, The Ocean Foundation and Honeycomb Strategies visited the restoration sites together this spring. Lindsay observed, “it's one thing to write a check and say you're going to offset. It's another thing entirely to take the time to go visit, meet the people, learn the science, and understand the why of this project.”
From a system of improvement in professional sports to a system of ecological resiliency in the Caribbean, the common thread is the belief in environmentalism as an essential component of a bigger mechanism that sustains and grows over time. When sustainability is approached in this way, it doesn’t come with big price tags and untenable, heroic efforts of a few champions. It becomes part of our way of doing business and part of our investment in the human communities we live and work with.
Like organic sea walls around mangrove forests, the best sustainability infrastructures have protections to keep them on track and dedicated partnerships that function like biodiverse ecosystems to balance and strengthen the system organically. The Philadelphia Eagles have cultivated both, supporting internal improvements and strong alliances with organizations like The Ocean Foundation and Honeycomb Strategies to build a healthy ongoing sustainability program with impact.
If you’re curious about the carbon offsetting strategies pioneered through this partnership and if it could be right for your organization, drop us a line:
[1] https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/inside-look-beauty-and-benefits-mangroves