4th January 2022
By Adam Holt
Clubs are becoming increasingly aware of climate change and its consequences and clubs across the country are doing a variety of things to help fight the worst effects that climate change could bring.
Patrick Shanahan, who heads up climate change projects for Port Vale, said: “I think with all areas of society, we could be doing a lot more. We are not making enough change quickly enough. So, whilst I think football is a part of that I think that ultimately it is all areas of society that need to get a wriggle on really.
“Halfway through our first season (in control of the club), that we got one of our first sponsors, Brown Recycling. The club recycles but could certainly do more.
“We spoke to them about things that we can do with our waste. We recycle our glass, but it’s also having the systems in place around the ground.
“You can do something to tick a box, or you can do something to build a program and a scheme to make it happen. We want to do something that is going to have an actual impact.”
James Whiting, the CEO of Northampton Town gave his thoughts on fighting climate change.
He said: “Over a number of years we have looked at various parts of our operations trying to help in the fight on climate change. We’ve introduced measures to try and maximise the amount of waste that we recycle.
“We’ve invested in LED lights throughout the stadium which are more energy efficient and installed other energy efficient solutions.”
Scottish Premiership club Hibernian have recently been declared the greenest club in Scotland. Their finance director, Christopher Gaunt has given his views on this, and on the fight against climate change.
He said: “We are very proud (of being the greenest club in Scotland), but also recognise that this is something we need to keep going.
“It is important for every company to fight climate change. The reason I stress that is because football clubs are various different small businesses within one large community and therefore have long-reaching environmental impacts that we cannot change on our own.
“We have installed electric vehicle charge points for staff but are also opening up a commercial charging point on the grounds for neighbours to use. We also have a waste contract that helps us recycle and limits those non-compostable waste going to landfills. We are also providing more vegan offering at our kiosks, and have a whole kiosk devoted solely to vegan food.
“It is imperative that we form partnerships with companies going forward in order to curb these periphery impacts on climate change as well those that are solely under our control.”
Patrick Shanahan, who heads up climate change projects for Port Vale, said: “I think with all areas of society, we could be doing a lot more. We are not making enough change quickly enough. So, whilst I think football is a part of that I think that ultimately it is all areas of society that need to get a wriggle on really.
“Halfway through our first season (in control of the club), that we got one of our first sponsors, Brown Recycling. The club recycles but could certainly do more.
“We spoke to them about things that we can do with our waste. We recycle our glass, but it’s also having the systems in place around the ground.
“You can do something to tick a box, or you can do something to build a program and a scheme to make it happen. We want to do something that is going to have an actual impact.”
James Whiting, the CEO of Northampton Town gave his thoughts on fighting climate change.
He said: “Over a number of years we have looked at various parts of our operations trying to help in the fight on climate change. We’ve introduced measures to try and maximise the amount of waste that we recycle.
“We’ve invested in LED lights throughout the stadium which are more energy efficient and installed other energy efficient solutions.”
Scottish Premiership club Hibernian have recently been declared the greenest club in Scotland. Their finance director, Christopher Gaunt has given his views on this, and on the fight against climate change.
He said: “We are very proud (of being the greenest club in Scotland), but also recognise that this is something we need to keep going.
“It is important for every company to fight climate change. The reason I stress that is because football clubs are various different small businesses within one large community and therefore have long-reaching environmental impacts that we cannot change on our own.
“We have installed electric vehicle charge points for staff but are also opening up a commercial charging point on the grounds for neighbours to use. We also have a waste contract that helps us recycle and limits those non-compostable waste going to landfills. We are also providing more vegan offering at our kiosks, and have a whole kiosk devoted solely to vegan food.
“It is imperative that we form partnerships with companies going forward in order to curb these periphery impacts on climate change as well those that are solely under our control.”