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Football might not have come home this year but it is going green later this month in what’s being billed as the ‘world’s first net-zero carbon major football match’.
On September 19, Spurs will play Chelsea at home in a Premier League clash that the organisers say will be totally carbon neutral. It’s being hosted by Tottenham Hotspur in partnership with Sky.
So, how do you make a football game more eco-friendly? First up, the organisers are looking to reduce direct emissions as much as possible. That means minimising emissions from energy used to power the game, travel to and from the stadium and food choices on offer. Fans will be encouraged to travel by public transport or by cycling. On the food front, the organisers will be highlighting plant-based options on the menu at the stadium.
As for the players, both squads will travel to the stadium on a coach that’s running on biofuel, a renewable diesel produced from food-waste products. They’ll also be drinking water from cartons provided by Spurs, rather than using plastic bottles.
For the game to be net-zero there need to be zero emissions, obviously. With that in mind, any emissions that remain will be offset. Tottenham Hotspur and Sky will plant trees near the stadium later this year, while Sky is also working on reforestation projects, including in East Africa, and creating new UK native woodlands.
The game, which is being dubbed #GameZero, is happening six weeks before the UN’s Cop26 Climate Change Conference, hosted by the UK in Glasgow, and is part of the government’s Together for Our Planet campaign.
Let’s just hope the guy who stuck a flare up his bum at Wembley doesn’t turn up (he’s a Chelsea fan, apparently). No one wants to have to offset those emissions.
In other green news, there’s a new sustainable bar in Hackney Wick.
Add just £1 to your restaurant bill and save a child’s life.