OUR SUSTAINABILITY MANAGER

Redbourn Golf Club, part of the Burhill Golf & Leisure Group, has this year officially appointed the contractual position of Sustainability Manager to work 16hpw alongside the General Manager, in order to promote our 7 sustainability commitments.

1. Planning, Policies & Procedures

2. Staff & Golfer Engagement
3. Taking Climate Action
4. Conserving Resource
5. Fostering Nature
6. Strengthening Communities
7. Tracking & Reporting

The role developed alongside the desire to do a lot more sustainable projects and work at the club, and promoting a member of the team who was passionate about the topic gave a real sense of connection and empowerment to all staff.

The Sustainability’s Manager’s role includes assisting the GM with larger projects, as well as engaging with all departments and staff to come up with and execute, sustainable ideas that come under any one of our commitments. Examples of these projects/ideas include:

–  restoration of a Chalk Stream running through our course,

–  reduction of single use plastics,

– bug hotels and bird boxes

– Scope 3 emissions surveys with the goal of understanding both staff and customers travel habits and whether we can reduce emissions.

A  few of examples of initiatives with quick wins from both a sustainability and cost perspective:

– Baking Paper: We currently use 3 rolls of baking paper per month, which over the year equates to 2.7km of baking paper, costing us £275.76. We have switched over to a re-usable baking paper, £12 for 4 sheets, which saves both money and paper. The alternative sheets retain heat better and allow us to cook items quicker.

– Condiment ramekins: rather than buying in sauces per bottle, we now dispense much larger containers into smaller re-usable ramekins. This has saved 18kg of plastic per year and just over £2 per kg of ketchup. There are savings of over £500 per year, less the cost of the ramekins.

– Re-usable Eco-burners: Switching to eco burners to heat our chafing dishes, that have a carbon footprint of 75% less than your standard gel/wick burner has saved 52.62kg CO2e every 6 times we re-fill. Cost savings also equate to around 36% of original cost for the first 12 burners/re-fills, and after that the savings increase to around 87% saved after the initial outlay of the burners, as re-fills are much cheaper.

Having a role dedicated to sustainability has made so much difference to the quality and quantity of projects that we can roll out at once, as well as as well as enabling the monitoring and collating all the associated data.

For all those serious about sustainability, please consider appointing someone in charge of Sustainability. Although there’s a wage to pay, you can save much in costs, improve your club and, overall, send out the right message.

For further information, please contact Robin Cheng, General Manager at Redbourn GC, at r.cheng@redbourngolfclub.co.uk