Hi readers! Do you have any idea which clubs of the English Premier League (EPL) are one of the least polluting?
As much as how some of us view the Premier League to be one of the best leagues to watch, the league may not be the best in terms of their sustainability rankings as a whole. According to Friends of the Earth (FOTE), it is estimated that nearly six million single-use plastic beer cups were used in the 2018/19 season (FOTE, 2019). On the other hand, sports like cricket and rugby have been seeing great success in sustainable alternatives, namely re-usable cup schemes. Indeed, as FOTE plastic campaigner Julian Kirby remarked, “Football clubs across the UK should aim to champions off the pitch, as well as on it, by giving single-use plastic the boot.”
Thankfully, over the past couple of years as environmental consciousness and champions increase, most of the clubs have been pressured and started to take their first steps towards sustainability. If you have guessed Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, or Manchester City to be one of the most sustainable clubs, you have hit the mark.
Source: BBC Sport
Arsenal
Tapping of FOTE’s campaign, Arsenal incorporated the re-usable cup scheme, reducing its usage of single-use plastic cards by half a million in the 2019/20 season (Mace, 2019)! The club have also removed plastic straw and stirrers at Emirates Stadium over the years. Undoubtedly, this have garnered much positive reactions and support from fans and environmental champions.
Tottenham Hotspur
Similarly, Spurs have sought to tackle plastic pollution by eliminating plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery, or plastic disposable packagings when they shifted to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (Tottenham Hotspur, n.d.) from White Hart Lane. On top of that, they phased out the 5p carrier bags, a minimum fee chargeable for carrier bags imposed by the UK government, and replaced them with sustainable, biodegradable alternatives.
Manchester City
Source: dailymail.co.uk
With its great splendour of wealth, this club has been the leading the race. From plastic pollution to water pollution, Man City have been making efforts to tackle issues related to environmental pollution. Besides being part of the first few clubs to introduce the returnable cup scheme, the club has made a long-term commitment to sustainability through the construction of the ‘Etihad campus’. This campus was part of the club partnership with the Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Limited (ADUG), which owns an 86% share in the club, to revamp a “derelict, toxic and unusable heavy industry estate into a community and business hub, now home to City Football Academy” (Edie, 2017). Built to the highest environmental standards, from sustainable energy, water, and waste initiatives, we see the hope that Premier League clubs bring in tackling environmental pollution.
I definitely anticipated for Liverpool to be higher up in the sustainability rankings… but we all get disappointed sometimes. Nevertheless, I still long for the day where all the other clubs will, together, reach a higher standard to become one of the leading major sporting events in tackling issues related to environmental pollution.
Stay tuned and take care,
Eunice
References
Lockwood, D. and Skelton, J. (2019). How green are Premier League clubs?. BBC Sport. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/50317760
Edie. (2017). Greening the game: How Man City FC has put sustainability at the heart of its journey to the top. [online] Available at: https://www.edie.net/library/Greening-the-game-Manchester-City-FC-sustainability-journey/6762
Friends of the Earth. (2019). Up for the cup? Football clubs urged to move to returnable drinks containers. [online] Available at: https://friendsoftheearth.uk/plastics/cup-football-clubs-urged-move-returnable-drinks-containers
Mace, Matt. (2019). Arsenal saves half a million single-use plastic cups from landfill. [online] Available at: http://www.edie.net/news/5/Arsenal-saves-half-a-million-single-use-plastic-cups-from-landfill/
Wheeler, C. (2014). Manchester City reveal new 200m Etihad Campus. Daily Mail. [online] Available at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2862372/Manchester-City-reveal-new-200m-Etihad-Campus-finest-training-facility-world.html