How Sporting Events can be more Sustainable

I've grown up with sports at the centre of my life for as long as I can remember. From the age of 10, most weekends were full of playing tennis matches and weekdays were taken over by tennis and squash practice or school sports like netball, hockey and swimming.

With tennis as my main sport, Wimbledon has undoubtedly been the highlight of many of my summers. The infamous strawberries & cream, walking around the grounds hopping from match to match, and just being on Centre Court watching some of the greatest sporting matchups in history, are some of the fondest memories I have. Not many thing can top the joy I get from visiting Wimbledon.

However, when I started to become more aware of the plastic pollution crises and other environmental concerns, the joy I felt by going to sporting events started to dwindle as my frustration and sadness increased due to the amount of waste produced at the events and how easily it could be avoided or at least reduced. Since going to several sporting events since becoming more conscious about these issues, I've thought about several measures that events can take to do their part, because they can have not only a big impact on the environment, but can also help to create awareness amongst the spectators.

REFILLABLE WATER BOTTLE STATIONS

Water fountain stations are much more common now, at least compared to 5-10 years ago. BUT, one thing I've realised is that especially at sporting events, when it's more convenient to buy a plastic water bottle than to bring and refill your own, most will opt for the convenient option of buying a new disposable one. So, having plenty of water bottle refill stations in a sports stadium is key to making spectators not feel burdened to refill their bottle. Also, as with hotels, selling only cardboard and/or aluminium water bottles is a great way to reduce single-use plastic and raise awareness!

LIMIT SINGLE-USE PLASTIC

Although this is something that should be addressed in all aspects of our life, it's something I've found that sporting can really improve on and make a big impact. Despite there being some improvement over the years, it has been a little slow. With regards to food and single-use plastic, events can swap to wooden/bamboo cutlery or simply stainless steel. Food containers can be made of compostable materials (but try to limit compostable plastics as they're difficult to actually compost properly currently in most places). With regards to cups for beverages like a refreshing Pimm's or beer, either offer collapsable reusable cups and straws to buy or use plastic alternatives. Sometimes just having friendly reminders on websites and around the grounds of the event to raise awareness of plastic pollution can help make people more conscious as well. Sporting events used to be free of single-use plastic before the invention of plastic, so it's definitely possible!

ATHLETES AS PIONEERS

So many athletes are inspirations and icons for so many people all over the world. So, if more athletes were to make and promote sustainable changes that fans and spectators can visibly see, the impact can be enormous. Currently, for example, I hardly ever see athletes use reusable water bottles. So if just one athlete were to come onto court or the field and use a non-single-use plastic water bottle, I'm sure a lot of spectators would realise that and would in turn be more conscious about their single-use plastic use. Even just promoting it on their Instagram or in a match press conference can make a difference. The ripple effects of what public figures do and say are much greater than a lot of us realise!

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Renewable energy has taken over the world it seems in the last several years, and obviously for many good reasons. But sometimes putting in the effort to actually make the changes needed requires a bit of a push, especially when things have always been a certain way. However, there's really not any more time to waste when it comes to sporting events and making the shift to renewable energy, even if it's gradual. Whether it be using solar panels for tournaments taking place in the summertime/in a sunny city, using wind power in windier cities, or even collecting compost (or manure for example with horse riding events) that can be used to generate electricity! Fortum HorsePower, for example, "collects manure from 4,300 horses across Finland to generate sustainable energy for local grids" - fascinating innovation! Also Wimbledon has always done and pledged a lot with sustainability and their tournament which is very exciting and inspiring.

USING UPCYCLED/RECYCLED MATERIALS

Upcycling materials or using recycled/upcycled materials has been a very popular, more environmentally-friendly path people have been exploring more recently, but it doesn't just stop at the individual. There are whole buildings made up of upcycled/recycled materials, as well as furniture, and even roads at this point! With regards to sporting events, it's not that they should just go ahead and replace everything with upcycled materials, even if what they currently have is in good shape, because that's just unnecessary and defeats the point. It's more for when things actually need replacing or updating (from small items to much bigger projects), then these events should consider using non-virgin materials. It can help reduce costs as well as environmental impact, a win-win!

DIFFERENT WASTE BINS AROUND

Over the last few years, we've become so used to seeing recycling bins right next to rubbish bins, which may seem great, but the truth is that most of us just throw things into either bins without thinking which one it actually should go in. And when things are wrongly thrown in the recycling bin especially, it contaminates the whole bag and it cannot be recycled. And when people are at a sporting event, the last thing they want to think about, understandably, is which bin to throw their rubbish in. Here are some steps that can help this issue:

Step 1: Reduce waste from the start and to educate people

Step 2: Put more bins around the premises so people don't litter

Step 3: Regulate how spectators throw away their rubbish (either by putting up easy-to-read, appealing signs above each bin on what can/cannot go in there and/or having some volunteers stand by the bins and guide spectators on which bin to use)

Step 4: Add compost bins alongside rubbish and recycling bins because when food is not composted, it releases methane and contributes greatly to global warming.

NATIVE AND WILD PLANTS

One of the best ways in general to help wildlife and nature flourish easily is to plant a big variety of native and wild plants. This not only helps to provide vital habitat for bird and many other species of wildlife, but also "native plants are adapted to local environmental conditions, they require far less water, saving time, money and perhaps the most valuable natural resource, water". It can also be a way for spectators to appreciate nature at its best, which for me is one of the most impactful and important ways people can connect with our environment and stop treating it like its separate from us. It's so easy and simple to find out which plants are native to your area, and it's basically a no-brainer when you realise all the different benefits of planting them.