Sustainable Phoenix

Kia ora koutou,

Tl;dr – Sustainable actions the Phoenix and us can take to improve our sustainability. 

An idea I have been mulling over for a while and after seeing the Mbappe/Galtier joke go down like a lead balloon, I thought I would throw it out to the forums to see what others think about it (context: France is asking people to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels. Mbappe/Galtier took the piss out of it, people are angry at them in reaction – which is fair enough in my pov). 

So my idea, or question to the forum – What can the nix as a club and us as supporters do about improving the sustainability of the club? 

The background thinking to this is that the wicked problems of our time are growing quicker than we are adapting (climate change, pollution, inequity to name a few). So, we need to change. Sporting teams play an interesting role in society where they bring lots of different people together. Around the world there are already many different examples of clubs playing a key role in both social, cultural and environmental change. Obviously, we have some clear barriers, air travel to games, don’t own the stadium. But there is still plenty of other ways we can change our impact. 

…so…thoughts? 
I will share some examples of what different clubs are doing in the thread.

(If you don’t believe in the wicked problems I have stated above are ‘real’, feel free to create your own thread to debate them. But not in here thanks) 

Forest Green Rovers - league one, England. Currently world leaders in sustainability in sport. UN backed, carbon zero, doing all sorts of cool shark. 
https://www.fgr.co.uk/another-way

Vermont Green FC -USL League Two, USA. A new club, build with a purpose of inclusion and low/no carbon impact. Strong focus on social and environmental issues. 
https://vermontgreenfc.com/

TSG Hoffenheim - Bundisliga, carbon off setting based ticketing, social conscious marketing and promotion. https://www.tsg-hoffenheim.de/en

I am so glad to see there are others on this forum that care about our impact on the environment. Not football related but am I the only one who was absolutely infuriated when NZRU signed with INEOS who are well known for their impacts on the environment?

Back to the Phoenix though, it's a very interesting discussion on how we could be more sustainable. I definitely agree it's not very ideal for us to be flying from here to Australia so much as we all know how bad air travel is for the environment but that is obviously the fastest and easiest way for us to get from A to B. Not emissions related but one thing Sky Stadium facilities could do is replace plastic soft drink and water bottles with glass and more water fountains. The glass bottles could be collected after each game.

Wusty Wab

Back to the Phoenix though, it's a very interesting discussion on how we could be more sustainable. I definitely agree it's not very ideal for us to be flying from here to Australia so much as we all know how bad air travel is for the environment but that is obviously the fastest and easiest way for us to get from A to B. Not emissions related but one thing Sky Stadium facilities could do is replace plastic soft drink and water bottles with glass and more water fountains. The glass bottles could be collected after each game.

NZ Stadia wont use glass bottles as they present a real hazard when used as projectiles - more so than plastic, which if you believe coke and most other water bottle manufacturers are now recycled and reused.
Unfortunately flying is the only way the team can get to games - there is no other options, green or otherwise.
If the owners were to buy/build a new stadium (the current one is nearing 30years old) I'd like to think they'd look at all the green options, like solar panels on the roof, or a green planted roof, rain water collection for use in the facilities. There are plenty of options, but these require investment in a new stadium.

Yeah, flying will always be the elephant in the room and they'd have to pay to offset that. But they can do things like partner with the regional council to provide free metlink services to the games if you have a ticket, partner with the stadium to have free ev parking, partner with the stadium to make sure food is delivered in biodegradable containers, etc.

Ryan

Yeah, flying will always be the elephant in the room and they'd have to pay to offset that. But they can do things like partner with the regional council to provide free metlink services to the games if you have a ticket, partner with the stadium to have free ev parking, partner with the stadium to make sure food is delivered in biodegradable containers, etc.

Anyone here got or know people who have contacts to Dome or Morrison? Suggesting these ideas to them could be a good starting point.

Ryan

Yeah, flying will always be the elephant in the room and they'd have to pay to offset that. But they can do things like partner with the regional council to provide free metlink services to the games if you have a ticket, partner with the stadium to have free ev parking, partner with the stadium to make sure food is delivered in biodegradable containers, etc.

The flight offset is the kind of thing that the league as a whole could look at. Otherwise it is unfair on Perth and the Nix. So it won’t happen, most likely. But might be the kind of thing you could apply to that Juan Mata type charity to do some of. 

First off, thanks for the replies in this. Was wondering what sort of response I would get.
Second, there are certain drawbacks to being in the A-league for the nix, and one of them in this context is the flying. But while its a non-negotiable for having to do it, there could be arguments made to do it more effectively. ie cluster games over here, have other teams have their away matches here as well as the Nix. But realistically, i think that is beyond where the league is thinking atm in terms of impact. 

Third, Ryan your point about partnering is right on ay. Like i see that there is 3 key players here. The club, the stadium and the fans. But each of those can be linked into other groups, and will need really. 

Last, so if we looked at us as fans then, what do people think we can do? I like the idea of presenting to the club. I cant attend the agms/open nights, but that would be a cool line of questioning put to the club. Or are their questions we ask of ourselves as feverites? From listening to years and years of yellowfever podcasts i get the feeling the organisers of this forum are at least on board with this kinda thinking. 

Whilst i get the urgency for making change now, I really dont see the owners wanting to spend more money on a "token" gesture to become something like carbon-neutral. The cost would be massive for a small impact. Spending money for no gain is probably not something the owners want or need right now.
If the league as a whole did something, then different story.
We as fans can do all kinds of things like using public transport to get to games - if it's ever running. 

theprof

Whilst i get the urgency for making change now, I really dont see the owners wanting to spend more money on a "token" gesture to become something like carbon-neutral. The cost would be massive for a small impact. Spending money for no gain is probably not something the owners want or need right now.
If the league as a whole did something, then different story.
We as fans can do all kinds of things like using public transport to get to games - if it's ever running. 

I do really like Ryan's idea of partnering with the council. It could be a good place to start and with their support it might be less of a burden on the club. Plus the council does have that 'Let's Get Wellington Moving' plan so perhaps if the club did partner with the council, they could do something like what Ryan mentioned to help reduce the amount of fans travelling to games by car. 

theprof

Whilst i get the urgency for making change now, I really dont see the owners wanting to spend more money on a "token" gesture to become something like carbon-neutral. The cost would be massive for a small impact. Spending money for no gain is probably not something the owners want or need right now.
If the league as a whole did something, then different story.
We as fans can do all kinds of things like using public transport to get to games - if it's ever running. 

I agree with this to a certain extent, but not completely. Like no one in any organisation wants to waste money or be seen to be wasting money on token actions. But everyone needs to start somewhere. as for the the point on expense, i think that cost is relative to the position. ie -  if the club makes a pledge to be carbon neutral, then the cost is on par with the intention. 
I suppose another way to think about it is that if aspects of sustainability inform decision making, then they are likely to be more impactful/directed uses of resources. 
The other assumption is that these actions bring about additional cost. If dont strategically then that is necessarily the case. Rather that resource is directed into other areas or procurement pools to get the same stuff the club purchasing/ or services using.   

Just got this idea while listening to the most recent Fever FM podcast which featured Dome. Not sure how keen people would be about this but perhaps Fever FM could bring Dome back in a future podcast and have one of the topics discussed focus on sustainability where they ask Dome if there are any plans the Phoenix have to be more sustainable. Still very keen on Ryan's idea about partnering with the council, perhaps could be one of the questions the hosts ask him during the discussion.

Yep, although with the ideas that I put forward, it would be up to the ratepayers to fund the Phoenix green initiatives.

You'd hope a commercial partner would look to subsidise some of it.

not the best time to be suggesting rate payers covering anything extra. Rates have gone up 10-15% per year for the lats couple of years and are looking to continue, add in a "keep the phoenix green" levy nad I'll guarantee people wont be happy.

I've noticed no free flags for the two opening games of the season. As much as everyone likes a free flag, that's a lot of plastic that was going to end in a landfill. Well done 

An article on some changes being made in the Bundesliga and by German clubs. Pretty simple steps, especially the warming stripes on corner flags. I really like that one.
https://www.dw.com/en/bundesliga-and-sustainability-reusable-cups-mandatory-in-stadiums/a-64426755?maca=en-Twitter-sharing

some of those make plenty of sense - recyclable/reusable beep cups for one.

While I'm not one who takes an active interest in golf, the recent LIV vs PGA war has been intriguing. Here is an episode of the detail which talks about the sports washing elements of it. It is definitely something that is been seen in football (and im not just talking about city/saudis or psg/qatar...Gazprom anyone?) and by whats said in the podcast, we can expect more of it from the oil states.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-detail/story/2018894497/sports-fans-and-the-uncomfortable-questions-about-sportswashing

Been following The Green for a while. This is a good write up on them. Again, its the aligning of a clubs actions with their core values. Very cool to see. 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/jun/30/vermont-green-fc-climate-justice-action

These two links are for Dolores, but also unfortunately celebrates the Aussie cricket captain.

https://newsroom.co.nz/2023/11/22/global-climate-action-still-not-enough-new-report/

The right wing commentary on people who hold positions informed by science are incredible ay. 
Well done on Pat for taking a stance. I see his actions are aligning with lots of other professional sportspeople and clubs around who are making conscious decisions what they do and stand for. Hope it can snowball in helping change our culture. 
And I think it can. Sport is a very powerful vehicle for change and is one of the few cross-social environments/spaces pakeha society has. 

They call the Australian cricket captain the second most important person in the country.

Just as well, as David Seymour and Winston Peters are not going to pull their weight with climate change apart from making many civil servants redundant so they don’t have to travel to work