Are those sheep?

Yes they are 45 to be exact.That's how many sheep have been "hired" by Pocono International Raceway to maintain the grass around its 25-acre solar field."This is a common sight in Europe, where solar fields are commonly built on farmland," explains Brandon Igdalsky, president and CEO of the racetrack.The sheep arrived in May and have spent the summer months chomping away behind the fence."I really thought that with only 45 sheep, that they would never be enough to cover the 25 acres," Igdalsky went on to state. "I was wrong."The sheep are easy to maintain, requiring only fresh water, salt and minerals to stay healthy.According to George Ewald, vice president/track superintendent, the sheep are provided free from a farmer who has a large herd located in Lancaster."The cost to the track was about $300 this year for the supplements," said Ewald. "We saved a couple of hundred gallons of fuel for the tractors and weed whackers and a couple of hundred man hours as well, not having to cut the grass."The solar field is safe for the sheep. They stay close to the ground, can't reach any wires and some of them use the panels for shelter.Igdalsky said his wife, Suzanne, initially gave him a hard time, arguing the sheep's case for a shed."It took some time for us to get used to the idea that they don't really like to be indoors, even in the heaviest rain they prefer to be outside," said Igdalsky.The sheep will be receiving a guest next week, when the farmer will be dropping off a ram. The idea originally raised a few eyebrows around the office.The sheep will be rounded up sometime in November said Ewald. They will be returned to Pocono after the spring lambing season.The sheep have not been the only changes made by raceway officials this year in an ongoing effort to shrink their carbon footprint.Igdalsky said the goal at Pocono Raceway over the next five years is to be at 100 percent 'diversion,' meaning nothing will be heading to a landfill."Everything here will be recycled or composted," explained Igdalsky, who puts into practice what his children preach."At home my girls will take bottles out of the garbage to remind my wife and me to recycle. They are learning this at school and we are following along at home." Igdalsky and his wife Suzanne are the parents of 8-year-old twins, Madison and McKenzie.Igdalsky said that at the track, they are working with their partners to reach their goal. This year Pocono Raceway switched to recyclable materials in their food service. In the future the plan is to use corn and sugar cane based materials, but the nearest collection service is out of state, making that cost prohibitive for now.The next move will be to bring in compost containers. The containers will remain on the property and will be used to collect all compostable materials. Once the process is completed, the soil will be used around the track. Excess soil could be made available to the public."The sporting industry will be the leader in teaching the whole world it can be done and it can be done easily," Igdalsky said. "If you give people the opportunity they will do it."Igdalsky claims that compost units will be much more cost effective in the long run with almost nothing going to the landfill."There are some ball stadiums that have been composting already and have reduced their trash by 80 percent."Igdalsky goes on to explain that the mindset has become an international effort."I traveled to South Africa last year to discuss the greening of sports."The sports industry has great partnerships, Igdalsky added."Coke Recycling is a separate company from Coke, and they have a made a tremendous impact. Pepsi is right behind. But the NASCAR initiative is probably the biggest in sports. All fuels, oils and tires are recycled and the cars race on E15 fuel."One of the most impactful is the Green Flag Tree Planting Program from NASCAR. For every green flag during the June race at Pocono International Raceway, NASCAR donates 10 trees to the raceway to be planted at the discretion of the raceway. In the past few years the track has donated the trees to the Pocono Mountain School District and The Austin Blakeslee Nature Preserve, among others.For June of 2012 the track chose the Flight 93 Memorial to receive its trees. Since the area to be planted is so vast, NASCAR stepped up and instead donated 8,000 seedlings to be planted over eight acres at the site."The raceway takes their commitment to recycling seriously," said Igdalsky. "Last year when the track was torn up and repaved, every piece of the old track was reused to pave the infield roads. None of it went to the landfill."