SYDNEY Swans star Ryan O’Keefe rides to training, his home is powered by renewable energy and all his food scraps go into the compost bin.

No wonder he was an obvious choice as the club’s ambassador for the AFL’s Green Round initiative.

As the League uses its round 20 matches to promote an environmentally-friendly lifestyle, O’Keefe said it was easy to make small changes that had a big effect.

“You can ride your bike or not use your car for those small trips. You can install water tanks. It’s easy to speak with your power company and change to 100 per cent renewable energy and all those sorts of things,” he said.

“It’s probably just a little bit of extra work that people have to put in. Maybe society’s starting to get a little bit lazy.

“It’s not that much extra work but if you put it in, the benefits don’t come just for you, but for the rest of the community and future generations.”

O’Keefe joined teammates and fellow cyclists Leo Barry, Darren Jolly and Marty Mattner for a photo shoot at the SCG earlier this week to promote Green Round.

He said his fellow Swans were receptive to ideas that helped them reduce their carbon footprint, but like the general public it was simply a matter of learning more.

“We’ve got a few of the boys who are pretty good. I suppose the other guys are not as educated about what they’re able to do but a lot of them are very receptive to these things and it’s just about putting a little bit of extra work in,” he said.

O’Keefe said he had been happy to take on the role of the club ambassador for Green Round to help spread the word about protecting the environment.

“It’s something that I’m pretty passionate about and it’s just an opportunity to get this out to the wider community,” he said.

“The AFL has a lot of different themed rounds – the women’s round, etc – and they’re all really great initiatives.

“We’re in the position where we can give some exposure to things that are worthy causes and this is just another one.”