Albion are delighted to introduce ‘Baggies Pastures Green’ - a working group created to help improve the club’s sustainability drive and join the fight against climate change.
We're delighted to introduce supporters to our sustainability group, Baggies Pastures Green! 💚
— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) January 31, 2024
Ahead of #GreenFootballWeekend, find out how we've made changes up and down the club to help tackle climate change. 👇
The team was assembled in 2022 and comprises of staff members from various departments across the football club, Academy and The Albion Foundation.
And, while there is still a long way to go, encouraging progress has been made during the first 18 months since its creation.
“We’re pleased with what we have achieved so far,” said Chris Harris, who is Albion’s Head of Health, Safety & Facilities Management - and a leading member of Baggies Pastures Green alongside Foundation Director Rob Lake.
“First, we signed up to the EFL Green Code, and then we formulated our sustainability group that consists of really committed individuals from across the whole club.
“We chose ‘one big thing’ to achieve, and that was to reduce our use of single-use plastic. We installed water units across the training ground and gave staff members and players their own re-usable water bottles.
“This has helped us make a 75% reduction in our use of single-use plastic bottles, and we also took that approach at the stadium.
“All this work has meant that we have recently had some great information from our waste disposal supplier, to say we have been zero to landfill for the last six months.
“Going forward, we’ve got some really exciting plans. At the training ground we are looking into having a polytunnel, to grow our own food, which can be served up to staff and the squad. Any surplus can go to the local community, too.
“We’re looking at potentially installing solar panels, which would feed back into our energy use. We also have an eco-system at the training ground, so we could introduce bug hotels, bat boxes, and we have already identified areas that can be used for re-wilding.”
Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship fixture against Birmingham City is this year’s dedicated Green Football Weekend matchday.
From scoring goals and helping the Baggies win the Green Football Cup, to trying some vegetarian food provided by women’s player Kate Evans and club chef Andy Sayer - there are plenty of ways supporters can get involved by clicking here.