Meet The World's Only Vegan Football Club

Forest Green Rovers are now officially the first completely vegan football club, and that’s not just the food.
As well as Q-Pie (that’s Q for Quorn), Mexican fajitas and sweet potato burgers, the way the pitch it grown, the energy output of the ground and technology used in the day to day running of the club all doff a cap (probably made of hemp) to sustainability.

The Gloucestershire team are currently going well in The National League (the country’s fifth tier of professional football) and look to have a bright, green future ahead of them.

The club went meat-free four years ago to great public support and success, and today the menu is completely vegan, even down to the beer and cider served on matchdays, courtesy of the Cotswold Brewing Company. While the club ply their trade at The New Lane, they are plans for a new stadium, designed by renowned architect firm Zaha Hadid, that will be made completely from wood and make up part of Eco Park, a planned 100 acre green development in the area.

According to the club’s website, Eco Park will be “a place where green businesses and technology companies come together and share ideas: a real focal point of creativity and innovation for the area and a part of the green industrial revolution that’s beginning to take off around the world.”

The main contributing factor to the club’s green credentials is their owner, Dale Vince, head of Ecotricity, a local energy company that specialises in selling green energy that it primarily generates from its 70 megawatt wind turbine, or as the company would prefer you call it, windmill.

Forest Green Rovers are leading the way, should others follow suit?

How the club is achieving its goals:

The pitch will be irrigated by a mixture of rain, drain and spring water.
The pitch is grown organically, with no pesticides used.
Low energy floodlights.
Solar power along the stadium roof, putting out 45 kW capacity.
Ground based solar system greets fans arriving at the ground. Its purpose is to be seen and to be a part of the environmental technology on display.
First meat-free football menu. Local, seasonal, fresh and organic food where possible.
The UK’s first electric ‘mow-bot’ that uses GPS technology to automatically mow the pitch without the need for human intervention – saving up to 50% of their groundsman’s working week. It even texts him when it’s done.

https://youtu.be/Hz3L84lQrgo

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.