05 Jun 2023
World Environment Day, held annually on June 5, is always a special milestone for the Sustainable Golf community as a day to focus on efforts to protect and restore the world around us.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of this global event, led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which celebrates environmental action and the power of governments, businesses and individuals to create a more sustainable world. Over those same 50 years, golf’s popularity has grown tremendously.
Each year World Environment Day leads with a theme, the past three years being living in harmony sustainably with nature, ecosystem restoration and biodiversity. This year the focus is on #BeatPlasticPollution.
The UN stated purpose of the day is to "showcase how countries, businesses and individuals are learning to use the material more sustainably, offering hope that one day, plastic pollution will be history.”
Plastics can provide important benefits, from life-saving medical devices to safe and long-life food storage. However, unnecessary and avoidable plastics, particularly single-use packaging and disposable items, are polluting our planet at alarming rates with unmanaged plastic waste finding its way into lakes, rivers, coastal environments, and finally out to sea, triggering a ripple of problems.
Golf’s 38,000 courses are often located in these strategically important locations in cities and along coastlines, providing a range of ecosystem services and conservation of species and now is the time to redouble commitments to making a positive difference and seek ways to avoid single-use plastics.
At a practical level, clubs and all those who work and play therein have a role to play to beat plastic pollution. The three R’s of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, apply to many parts of the golf business, from course managers and greenkeepers, through the pro shop and clubhouse or across tournaments. And there are choices we can all make to reduce single-use plastics and find circular and sustainable alternatives.
Are there opportunities to reduce plastic by buying in bulk? Even encouraging the team to bring a reusable water bottle rather than a single-use plastic bottle is a positive step. Think about the snacks for breaks and lunch and the packaging involved there. Or making the course furniture from wood discarded following a woodland management program rather than plastic.
In the pro shop explore opportunities to reduce singe-use plastic, for example in the wrapping for clubs and other equipment. Look out for sustainable apparel choices and think about the drinks and snacks you take out on the course with alternatives that avoid discarded plastic wrappers.
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Large-scale tournaments offer an opportunity to highlight best practices and find alternative solutions for signage, banners, carpets, food and drink containers, and to promote the circular economy.
What options are there to reuse materials and put to a second use? Some materials can be donated to community groups who can make use of it. Mesh from the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational was turned into tees, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am turned banners to backpacks and other events provide materials for pencil cases or carpets donated to charity.
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Reuse and recycling are fundamental to any operation and should be regularly reviewed with waste providers. Implementing effective recycling and waste streams from the course, maintenance facility and clubhouse should be par for the course.
Golf has a diverse supply chain of products and materials, and new innovations are emerging all the time. Let us play our part in seeking out and avoiding single use plastics and finding the circular and sustainable alternatives to #BeatPlasticPollution.
Check out Sustainable.golf/highlights for inspiring examples from clubs all around the world for more ideas.
