Greening Goodwood – August meeting

Abigail Lane and George Hibberd met with Tracey Greaves (Goodwood Chief Commercial Officer) and Susie Tomson (Earth to Ocean – working with Goodwood in Sustainability).

The meeting was extremely positive and encouraging. Both Tracey and Susie seem really in touch with the reality of the Climate Crisis, the environmental impact of the Estate and how it can influence its suppliers, other businesses, its customers and the general public positively.

Tracey and Susie are working hard to get the board of directors onboard with the project. The Duke is supposedly extremely passionate about it and is the loudest voice on the Estate championing their work.

There is nothing in the public domain, but Goodwood have an ambitious to be Carbon Neutral, or even Carbon positive by 2030. They plan to achieve this by massive tree planting on the Estate (looking to break a record), reducing their use of single-use plastics, completely rethinking their waste streams and the raising of awareness and education around sustainability on the Estate. They want ‘Eco Champions’ in each area of the Estate who are responsible for making sure that their area is maintaining eco-friendly practices and upholding the Estate’s new sustainable vision.

Once the Estate has nailed down their vision and plan, they will be asking their business partners to align with their values, or they will not work with them in the future. This is so important that they are pushing back with their suppliers and partners to get them onboard with their vision.

Further meetings will likely be had to further some of the action points precipitating from the meeting. Abi and George may also be given access to the back of house at the upcoming Revival to get a different perspective on how things are being done and what can be improved.

Environmental Footprint

The Estate is now properly trying to record their waste figures and come up with an estimate of the environmental footprint of the Estate. This will allow them to have a benchmark to work from and improve upon. Once this has been done it will be made publicly available. They are looking at ways to create energy on the Estate to power the business and truly make it energy-sustainable.

Food Waste

Goodwood are currently looking to work with Chichester-based UK Harvest to glean uneaten, unspoiled food for charities. George will also be giving them the contact details of the NCASS (National Caterers Association) as they have a project called ‘The 8th Plate’ which collects waste food from festivals for charities. Waste food (unfit for human consumption) is looking to be collected for potentially composting on the Estate or even used to create energy to power the Estate.

George will be passing on the contact details of Toast Ale to Goodwood (a company who brews beer out of waste bread). They are already keen to do a collaboration brew with the Estate.

George will be passing on the contact details of Bio-Bean (a company that collects spent coffee grounds, pressing it into logs that can be burned for heating).

Single-use Beverage cups

George will be passing on contact details for Cup Club (London company providing closed-loop, reusable and washable deposit scheme coffee cups for cafes and events – perfect for the Goodwood Events) and Ecoffee (another company providing deposit-scheme coffee cups – used by Boston Tea Party and perfect for general Estate-use). The Horse Racecourse have trialled using ‘Green Goblet’ reusable and washable branded plastic cups this year. This has turned out to be extremely successful and will be potentially rolled out for all Goodwood Events. Vegware has been looked at for food vessels and cutlery. It is important that these items are properly disposed of (collected and composted separately from other waste). This will be looked at when waste-collection is dealt with. The Estate is looking to eliminate plastic bottles from the Estate and its large events.

Waste Collection

Abi will be passing on the contact details for the owner of ‘Nifty Bins’ (local business providing waste separation and collection for big events). This gentleman already knows the Duchess of Richmond personally, so this should be very successful and will be hopefully implemented at all events and Estate-wide.

Waste Candles

Countless candles are half-burned and wasted throughout the Estate. Abi will be passing on the contact details of a candle recycling company.

Clingfilm usage

George will be passing on contact details of the restaurant ‘Spring’ (a restaurant in London that has eliminated the use of single-use plastic and clingfilm in their kitchen). Goodwood are already looking at alternatives to cling-film use outside the kitchens.

Education

The Estate is introducing sustainability and why it is important into their inductions for new staff on the Estate. Once the official sustainability plan has been finalised this will be used as a template, reference and goal.

Toilet Roll

The Estate is looking at sourcing their toilet roll from companies such as ‘Who Gives a Crap’ and paper towels from recycled paper sources.

Clothing

Abi will passing be on her contacts and expertise in ethical clothing production so that all Goodwood clothing is sourced ethically and made from sustainable materials.

Conclusion

Abi and I came out of the meeting pleasantly surprised. Our expectations prior to the meeting were completely exceeded. Susie and Tracey are extremely passionate about sustainability and are keen to push Goodwood firmly down the environmentally friendly path. They understand this presents the Estate with not only an opportunity for the Estate to lessen its impact on the environment but also as a big PR opportunity to present the Estate in a completely different light to the general public. Whilst some projects will inevitably cost the Estate, many may make the Estate more profit. But most importantly, the Estate looks like it will be having a much more positive effect on the  planet in the future with Susie and Tracey at the helm.

With thanks to George

Total Page Visits: 776 - Today Page Visits: 1

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *