06: How to Make Dance More Sustainable - View from Stanford Lecturer

Short Summary

Dr. Suki Hoagland emphasizes that true sustainability starts with sustaining yourself—physically and mentally—before taking on external causes. She highlights the environmental and health costs of overconsuming protein (especially beef), encourages plant-based diets, and points out how fast fashion and plastics deeply harm both ecosystems and human bodies. She also shares personal lessons on burnout, emphasizing the importance of rest, nutrition, and mental health. Through her Stanford course Sustainability in Athletics, she engages athletes and fans alike in practical projects, from sustainable concessions to gear recycling.

Key Learnings

1. Sustain Yourself First

   • Physical and mental health are foundational to contributing meaningfully to sustainability.

   • Rest, sleep, and acknowledging mental health struggles are critical for long-term performance.

2. Diet and the Environment

   • Beef production emits ~50x more CO₂ than beans (Poore and Nemecek).

   • Athletes can perform at peak levels on plant-based diets (Roberts et al.).

   • Excess protein intake can harm kidneys; optimal nutrition is highly individual (Ko et al.).

3. Fast Fashion’s Hidden Costs

   • 92 million tonnes of textile waste annually (Global Fashion Agenda) = one dump truck every second (Ry O F F I N D I N).

   • Fashion industry = 20% of global wastewater, 2–8% of CO₂ emissions (World Bank Group), 35% of ocean microplastics (United Nations).

   • Solution: buy quality, second-hand, recycle, and promote hand-me-down or thrift culture in dance.

4. Plastics and the Athlete’s Body

   • Microplastics now found in organs, linked to fertility issues, dementia, and cancers.

   • Athletes resonate with this because their body is their “temple.”

   • Action: replace single-use plastics (e.g., reusable bottles, compostable packaging).

5. Athletes & Events as Change Agents

   • Event sustainability can be improved by smarter scheduling, transportation reduction, sustainable concessions, and waste reduction.

   • Athletes and fans can influence industries by modeling sustainable habits.

6. Redefining Bravery

   • True bravery includes nurturing oneself and admitting vulnerabilities.

   • Mental health care is a prerequisite for being a lasting role model and champion.

Main Topics Discussed

• Positive impacts of vegan food and nuts

• Optimal amount of plant-based protein per serving

• Sustainability in Athletics course student demographic

• How dance venues can be more sustainable

• Negative impacts of plastic on athletes' systems

• Causes of mass production and over consumption and what we can do about them

• Effective sustainable communication to athletes

• More about Sustainability in Athletics course

• Sustainable gear

• collective activism: small making big change

• Importance of physical and mental sustainability

About the Speaker

Dr. Hoagland is a Lecturer in Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability. She launched a course on Sustainability in Athletics five years ago with a team of scholar-athletes. Fun fact-she’s also a former national silver medalist in pairs figure skating, with tons of dance training herself.

Works Cited

European Parliament. “The Impact of Textile Production and Waste on the Environment (Infographics).” European Parliament, 29 Dec. 2020, www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20201208STO93327/the-impact-of-textile-production-and-waste-on-the-environment-infographics.

Global Fashion Agenda. “Pulse of the Fashion Industry.” Global Fashion Agenda, 2019, globalfashionagenda.org/pulse-of-the-industry/.

Ko, Gang-Jee, et al. “The Effects of High-Protein Diets on Kidney Health and Longevity.” Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, vol. 31, no. 8, 2020, p. ASN.2020010028, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7460905/, https://doi.org/10.1681/asn.2020010028.

Poore, Joseph, and Thomas Nemecek. “Reducing Food’s Environmental Impacts through Producers and Consumers.” Science, vol. 360, no. 6392, 1 June 2018, pp. 987–992, www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaq0216, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaq0216.

Roberts, Aubrey K., et al. “SWAP-MEAT Athlete (Study with Appetizing Plant-Food, Meat Eating Alternatives Trial) – Investigating the Impact of Three Different Diets on Recreational Athletic Performance: A Randomized Crossover Trial.” Nutrition Journal, vol. 21, no. 1, 16 Nov. 2022, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-022-00820-x.

Ry O F F I N D I N, M. A NEW TEXTILES ECONOMY: REDESIGNING FASHION’S FUTURE. 2017.

United Nations. “From Petroleum to Pollution: The Cost of Polyester.” United Nations Western Europe, 17 Dec. 2024, unric.org/en/from-petroleum-to-pollution-the-cost-of-polyester/.

World Bank Group. “How Much Do Our Wardrobes Cost to the Environment?” The World Bank, 23 Sept. 2019, www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2019/09/23/costo-moda-medio-ambiente.