It’s already got the Green Monster. Now the rest of Fenway Park is going green, too.

The Boston Red Sox plan to make the team’s grand old stadium friendlier to the environment.

This week, for example, the Fenway staff began collecting empty water and soda bottles starting in the fifth inning. Future plans include more energy efficient lighting and equipment, an expanded recycling program and even locally grown, organic produce in the concession stands. (Hmmm. “Buy me some peanuts and ... carrot sticks?”)

The team also says it will consider putting solar panels on the roof to heat parts of the facility and reduce the need for dirtier energy sources. Could come in handy for all those games in October.

The plans grew out of a partnership with the Natural Resources Defense Council, a national environmental advocacy group. NRDC has been working with other teams and stadiums, too, though Boston’s 95-year-old ballpark offers a rare chance to show how energy efficiency can be compatible with historic preservation.

The Sox plan to make the changes over the next five years, culminating in 2012 for the stadium’s 100th ‘birthday.'

The top team in baseball (for at least one more day) is joining a growing number of sports organizations greening up as concern about global warming continues to seep through American culture. As Sports Illustrated Writer Alexander Wolff put it, “an eco-consciousness is leeching ever so slowly into the jockosphere.”

Wolff wrote a cover story about sports and global warming for the magazine in March. The sports world has lots of reasons to pay attention, he said, from high school football teams that have to practice at night because of the heat to Nordic and downhill ski competitions postponed or canceled for lack of snow.

Some golf courses are trying to enhance their green image by going easy on the synthetic pesticides. Even NASCAR is adding ethanol to the fuel in its race cars. (Sure, the cars only get about 5 mpg, but hey, it’s something.)

The Sports Illustrated article made a case for cleaner, more efficient stadiums closer to public transportation, and even singled out Fenway as a model, sort of. “The greenest ballpark in the country may be Fenway Park, because only an idiot would try driving and parking there.”

Wolff also gave a nod to the New England Patriot’s home stadium. Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., recycles its own treated wastewater “to make the most of all that beer and all those flushes.”

Red Sox Vice President of Operations Jonathan Gilula said the team feels a social responsibility and that the changes at Fenway won’t affect ticket prices or hurt the team’s bottom line. “Over the long term we’re looking at doing things that are better for the environment and also cost competitive,” he said.

And, he said, fans already seem to appreciate the Fenway staff collecting recyclables during the late innings, he said. They have been in a relatively good mood lately, of course.

No doubt there will be some in Red Sox Nation who just want to enjoy the game.

But, no worries. There’ll still be plenty of beer and Cracker Jacks.

Here is the press release.

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