In the last few years, ethical living has gone mainstream. Having a greater awareness of the environmental and social impacts of our lifestyles is no longer just a political issue but has penetrated the high street. According to the Co-Operative Bank, the UK’s ethical consumerism was worth £29.3 billion in 2005 and continues to rise steeply. Interestingly, the sporting arena hasn’t been immune to this growing social conscience. The London 2012 Olympics have been dubbed the ‘Green Games’ referring to the lasting legacy of the games that will benefit sport, the environment, and the local and global community. And even football is now getting in on the act.
Can you imagine a football stadium with its own wind turbine generating enough energy to power the ground and thousands of nearby homes? Or how about a club committed to source local produce where possible to minimise their carbon count and recycling a range of items, including paper, card, glass, grass cuttings and some waste foods? This isn’t pie-in-the-sky thinking, but reality. The club in question is Manchester City who is working with a range of partners to consider ways of promoting positive environments, which are set out in their inspirational blue:print community strategy document. Already Manchester City has, amongst other things, reduced its landfill by 85 per cent, moved to electric vehicles on site, and reduced the use of packaging, whilst a future project includes the reuse of rain water for toilet flushing and grass watering.
Such adaptations don’t have to be extreme and clearly the resources available to a Premier League Club are worlds apart from those in the basement of the Football League. One only needs to look at Dartford FC of the Ryman League to see what is possible with more meagre finances. In November the Kent club opened its new Prince’s Park stadium which claims to be the world’s first ‘eco-friendly’ football stadium. Water run-off from specially curved roofing is channelled through pipes and gullies into two lakes, which is used for maintaining the pitch, which requires up to 20,000 litres a day. Solar panels meanwhile power most of the hot water and under-floor heating in the clubhouse.
Of course there is little point in being concerned about social and environmental justice if this isn’t followed by action to improve the situation. Furthermore taking action not only has a direct effect but can also influence others. So what are we doing and what plans have we got for the future?
Earlier in the year you may recall the Supporters’ Trust promoting Fairtrade Fortnight (26th February – 11th March) supported by articles and a competition in the matchday programme and the respective Official Club and Trust websites, whilst FITC used fair-trade footballs during their halftime entertainment. Whilst the promotion wasn’t well received by everyone, it did provoke this response on the Trust website: “I would like to see Notts County adopt a fair-trade policy. All the produce sold in the catering facilities and the shop should be fair-trade whenever possible. We could follow Brentford’s example of having fair-trade footballs, and how much better to warm the heart as well as the hands at halftime with a fair-trade drink.”
It is early days but we hope that from small steps in the right direction we can begin to make a difference. Part of the problem is football is steeped in habit and tradition and a ‘that is how we do things around here’ mentality. It needn’t be like this. In Germany public waste bins, including those in the football grounds, are divided into four sections: paper, cans, plastic and general waste. How difficult would it be to motivate more supporters – and players – to put their rubbish in the right place for recycling, thus reducing the huge amounts of waste after every game.
It’s not just about changing attitudes on an individual level, but also in terms of the way the clubs themselves operate. Recycling is just the first step – how about Notts County making a pledge to favour local goods and services wherever possible? So instead of Pukka Pies (admittedly only from Syston in Leicestershire) we could return to sourcing award-winning produce from Chambers in Arnold. Magpies Brewery is situated just a stone’s throw from the ground or Castle Rock Brewery (the biggest brewer in Nottingham shire’ following the closure of Hardys and Hansons) is situated next door to the Vat and Fiddle and yet the only appearance their beers have made recently at Meadow Lane was during the Magpies Beer Festival organised by the Trust. By using local suppliers not only will we reduce our carbon footprint but we are supporting the local community.
We could also do more to encourage supporters to cycle, walk, and use public transport or car-share to get to games. Such an approach would fit neatly alongside the Greater Nottingham’s Transport Partnership (GNTP) which is backing The Big Wheel, the strategy for Nottingham’s transport network. You never know this might help not only to promote sustainable transport, and reduce congestion and parking on match days, but potentially lead to profitable business and sponsorship opportunities.
Alterations could also be made to Meadow Lane to make the stadium greener and more energy efficient. There may even be grants or public funding available to help the Club make the transition and in the process help to raise awareness by using football as a driving force for environmental change. How about adopting a Club-wide policy of using energy-saving lighting and using proximity switches, which turn lighting on only when people are present and off when people leave an area, thus saving energy? There would be an initial outlay in the short-term but this would be offset in the longer-term by the savings in the energy costs.
If these words are not to ring hollow then it is important that we all take responsibility. As a Trust we could and should be doing more and not just encouraging the Club to change. We could ask our members to download newsletters and other Trust literature via e-mail rather than sending a hard copy. Meanwhile using recycled paper for our newsletters, raffle tickets, ballot papers, letters etc. is a no-brainer. Each tonne of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 1700 litres of oil, three cubic metres of landfill space and 32,000 litres of water.
The bottom line is that football holds a powerful influence over children and adults – if we can harness that to raise awareness and drive change we can make a real difference.
