After the end of a baseball game, players and coaches quickly abandon the bullpen and dugout. As they do, they leave a film of material lying on top of the dirt for the clean-up crews: sunflower seeds, gum wrappers, thrown-out gum, chewed-up tobacco, used tape and, of course, paper cups.

These are the same paper cups fans see players reach for all the time, especially after a player returns to the dugout having just hit a home run. The green “Gatorade” cups with the white “G” and orange lightning bolt are made from heavy-weight paper. However, the cups are not recyclable because they are coated with wax, said Mark Guglielmo, the vice president of ballpark operations for the San Diego Padres.

Guglielmo said everything that is recyclable in the dugouts at Petco Park is sorted from the regular trash, but the cups aren't among the separated items there or anywhere else in Major League Baseball.

Chris Costello, the communications director for the Tampa Bay Rays confirmed Guglielmo's response.

Two years ago, Costello said the Rays started using corn oil-based rather than petroleum-based cups at concession stands. The corn oil cups are sorted from regular trash and composted. However, the Rays’ dugout still features the green wax-coated cups because MLB's sponsorship agreement with Gatorade requires them to.

The only team that does not use Gatorade cups is the Houston Astros, whose home field is called Minute Maid Park, a Coca-Cola Company product. Coca-Cola manufactures Powerade, the main rival to PepsiCo's Gatorade.

Nearly every MLB team has started a green initiative, however, most of the special projects are one-time affairs for Earth Day.

MLB has also teamed with the National Resources Defense Council to track these sustainability projects so the league can create a set of best practices for its 30 teams to build upon.

As they codify their march to sustainability, it's time for MLB officials to re-examine their use of disposable cups.

The National Football League uses Gatorade too, except they give it to their players in long, plastic, refillable bottles with screw-on tops. A water boy or water girl can conveniently bring out dozens of these bottles at a time on plastic trays. Efficiency meets reusability in the NFL with its sheer number of dehydrated athletes and coaches.

The National Hockey League uses similar bottles, but both the National Basketball Association and MLB have stood by their green paper cups in the face of the green movement.

The only mention online of someone proudly recycling Gatorade cups is the Baltimore Marathon, which claims to compost them.

My idea: Hand every MLB player his own stainless steel or BPA-free aluminum water bottle — the ones that were originally designed for hikers but have now become mainstream across the country. The team member's name (presumably along with the Gatorade logo) could be printed on the water bottle, which could be used for at least the length of one season. [Note: Gatorade did not respond to calls seeking comment on the feasibility of this idea.]

Teams already load up the dishwashers for other items every night, so adding three dozen water bottles shouldn't be too difficult. There's extra labor involved for bat boys and girls (or ball boys and gals), but in the name of reducing waste, I'm ready to place that burden on them.

Guglielmo said such an idea has never been considered, but something he could imagine happening.

To further cut down on paper consumption, teams could utilize an iPad in the dugout to replace the binders of notes, statistics and scouting reports they keep on file. Having all of that information stored digitally in the dugout would increase efficiency as well.

Sadly, MLB would probably throw a fit over bringing such a sophisticated electronic device into its dugouts.

For the time being, getting rid of the green Gatorade cups in favor of green — in color and in spirit — Gatorade reusable water bottles should be an easy change to implement.