The Halo Effect: Earth Day
Southampton Football Club is marking Earth Day by highlighting some of the initiatives the club has recently undertaken to promote being kinder to the environment, as part of its sustainability strategy, The Halo Effect.
Earth Day, an international awareness campaign which has been running annually since 1970, is focused around bringing people and businesses together to support environmental protection.
In the week leading up to Earth Day, the club held a week of environmental action including holding its first ever Greener Game at last Saturday’s fixture against Arsenal at St Mary’s – find out some of the other work the club has undertaken recently below.
Greener Game
The club put on a range of activities around last weekend’s fixture against Arsenal to encourage fans to think about making more sustainable choices around matchdays.
Supporters were able to use a free park and ride service to get to St Mary’s, helping to alleviate travel emissions in the city, with loads of activities taking place around the ground ahead of the game.
The Final Straw Foundation brought a wire fish sculpture to highlight the effects of single-use plastics, while the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust handed out packets of wildflower seeds to fans to promote biodiversity, with vegan tasters for fans in the concourses too.
The Halo Effect ambassadors Katie Rood and Theo Walcott also supported the Greener Game with Rood sharing her passion for the environment in a half-time interview on the pitch and Walcott featuring in a special edition of the matchday programme.
Home Grown Initiative
Two local schools received a combined total of 750 new trees as part of the club’s Home Grown Initiative, which pledges to plant 250 trees each time an Academy or RTC player makes their first team debut.
Southampton FC Women’s player Megan Collett, who made her first team debut in November, was on hand to help pupils plant trees at Foundry Lane Primary School last month with a second planting session taking place at Kanes Hill Primary School as well.
Vegan cookery class
Players from the club’s Academy got the chance to learn about the benefits of vegan cuisine while making their own dishes, with a cookery class put on by The Fresh Kitchen Cookery School.
Beach clean
Staff from across the club took part in a beach clean at Weston Shore, helping to tidy the city beach by picking up litter with support from the Final Straw Foundation.
Staff initiatives
Across the week leading up to Earth Day, the club engaged staff with webinars from both the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and the British Association for Sustainable Sport, as well as a vegan menu for staff on Friday and free reusable coffee cups and stationery.
You can learn more about the action Saints are making to become more sustainable by visiting The Halo Effect site here, with a full view of action the club took last year in the full 2021 Sustainability Review which you can read here.
