Royal Challengers Bangalore to sport green jersey

Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Indian Premier League team at the forefront of creating environmental awareness, on Wednesday marked another step in its ongoing Green Initiative by unveiling a special jersey.

Sidhartha Mallya, Director, Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd unveiled the "Green Jersey" at a special launch event in Bangalore. The Royal Challengers will don the Green jersey in the home match against the Kochi Tuskers in the match to be played on May 8, 2011  as a symbol of the team's commitment to the Green Initiative. This special jersey is distinct  from RCB's traditional red and gold coloured team attire.

This special jersey will be signed by the Royal Challengers team and auctioned and the proceeds will go towards the team's Green Initiative. The entire RCB team will take the Green Pledge towards a greener lifestyle with more than 40,000 fans at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

"I am delighted to unveil the Green Jersey as part of our continuing efforts to increase awareness about the environment. Cricketers are heroes and role-models for millions of fans and therefore are the right ambassadors to spread the message about protecting the environment and constantly reminding everyone to bring about change in our attitudes and actions towards the environment.

The unveiling of the Green Jersey is yet another milestone in our journey  to become the first carbon-neutral cricket team in the world by the end of this IPL season  and symbolises RCB's commitment to UN's World Environment Day on June 5," Mallya said.

Anil Kumble, president,  Karnataka State Cricket Association and RCB Chief Mentor, who was also present at the unveiling, said, "RCB started the Green Initiative in 2010 during the third season of IPL when I was the captain of the team. It is a matter of great pride for me that the initiative  has come  such a long way. This is only the beginning and  And  KSCA's association with RCB on the Green Initiative will continue as work towards fulfilling our green goals.

RCB's green initiatives which kicked off in 2010 include some unique efforts like encouraging car pooling for fans on match days, waste segregation at the stadium and effective disposal through recycling and composting, collaboration with the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation for additional buses to and from stadium, carbon footprint calculator on the RCB website and many others were taken.