Granny Trude likes to watch her grandsons and great-grandsons play football and cheer them on from the sidelines. But she’s much less interested in the score on the pitch than in ways to improve the environmental score in and around the pitch. And there are plenty of ways to make the game more sustainable, as she has found out.
My Dears,Those who say all the news these days is bad are, I’m glad to say, mistaken. I was delighted when last month the First and Second Bundesligen became the first major professional football leagues to announce a set of criteria to make the sport more environmentally sustainable.
Granny Trude talking about football?!? Why, yes! The only part that really thrills me, I admit, is when my grandson Arthur or my great-grandson David puts the ball in the box – then I cheer like mad from the sidelines! You should see me in my “football fan” outfit! If you’re not big on the sport but passionate about sustainability and environmental issues, then keep reading… and I’ll get on the ball. You may find it more exciting than you expected!
Social responsibility
Football isn’t just a billion-dollar business, it’s also the most popular sport here in Germany and around the world. So the gridiron pastime looms extremely large! And has a correspondingly huge carbon footprint. In my opinion, efforts to reduce that footprint should have begun a long time ago, but at least some clubs are now on it. Thanks to forerunners like FC Cologne, which in 2021 became the first German club to be awarded TÜV certification for sustainable business management, as my grandson Michi informed me. For some time now, the club have been working to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs, aka Global Goals) under the UN’s 2030 Agenda. Other clubs are also becoming environmentally aware: TSG Hoffenheim, VfL Wolfsburg, and Borussia Dortmund, Arthur's favourite team, are already publicly reporting their CO2 emissions.But the real pioneer in matters of sustainability is SC Freiburg, which, way back in 1995, became the first club to put a solar collector on the roof of a German league stadium. Conserving resources has long since become a matter of course in everyday practice at the club. The photovoltaic systems are rounded out by a combined heat and power unit, a deep well, waterless urinals, a wood chip heating system, good heat insulation, solar collectors for hot water and so on and so forth. The club’s brand-new Europa-Park Stadium boasts all-round sustainable design. Maybe I'll take Michi on a trip there for a match sometime.
But to pick up where I left off earlier, the sustainability criteria drawn up in May 2022 are compulsory and firmly established in the annual licensing regulations of the DFL (Deutsche Fussball Liga, which is in charge of the organization and marketing of German professional football). This is an important step towards protecting the climate, even if some people will naturally find these requirements – and the penalties for non-compliance – insufficient. I say: At least they’re a step in the right direction!
What are these criteria?
Starting in the 2023/24 season, all German clubs are to operate more sustainably and must satisfy 39 environmental, economic and social criteria to this end. Among other things, they’ll be required to measure their own carbon footprint, develop a sustainability strategy, appoint sustainability officers, and implement fair play and anti-doping measures.What’s the problem?
There really is a lot to be done, especially seeing as big stadiums heat their turf in winter. Not only that, but the paying TV broadcasters like to keep the floodlights on even during the day for a brighter televised image. Plus all the fans have to get to the stadium, and many of them still drive there.Where to start?
- With regard to fan mobility, incentives like a bonus card could encourage fans to use public transport to get to the stadium.
- Clubhouses and restaurants at the stadium could switch to reusable tableware, as is already happening in many other places. I even read that an English club have switched to vegan food for players – who are gung-ho about the change – as well as spectators. The team have hired a nutritionist, and food consumption at the stadium is said to have shot up since the switch to veggie burgers.
- The floodlights, fitted out with LED light bulbs, also consume far less energy than with conventional bulbs.
- Rainwater cisterns could be installed at football pitches to collect water for turf care – a number of clubs are doing that.
- Another sustainability lever is the players’ actual jerseys, which, as in the case of FC Bayern, can actually be made from ocean trash, i.e. plastic debris in the oceans. And stirrup football socks could be made from bamboo instead of synthetic fibres.
- When it comes to turf care, chemical fertilizers and pesticides could be dispensed with, and lawn mowers could run on solar power.
- Solar panels are already being installed on clubhouse and stadium roofs to provide clean energy.
- Fan merchandise and footballs should be produced fairly, and all sponsors should operate sustainably.
Artificial turf – without microplastics
I’d like to tell you about an interesting experience my grandson Michi had. He used to having nothing on his mind but training and matches with his team or kicking the ball around with his friends. He has remained faithful to football and recently played a “friendly” on a state-of-the-art artificial grass pitch in Munich. His team lost the match, but playing on the artificial turf was apparently a great experience. The pitch had no granulate filler, which is suspected of releasing microplastics into the soil. Instead, the blades of synthetic turf were interwoven, which also significantly reduces the use of adhesives, and backfilled with sand. The sand can also be combined with rubber or cork. These approaches are all very exciting! So I’m delighted about this rethink about such an exemplary side of the sport.As you can see, there are ways to protect our climate in almost any situation. Which is why I’d like to close with this motto: Long live sport!
Yours sportingly,
Granny Trude
June 2022