U.K. soccer club vegan and carbon neutral

NAILSWORTH, ENGLAND One-nil for the environmentalists.

An English soccer team has become the first pro sports team in the world to be certified carbon neutral by the United Nations.

The club’s 2,000-seat stadium in the quiet town of Nailsworth, England, is powered entirely by renewable energy, about 20 per cent of which is from solar panels.

Chairman Dale Vince, who owns a renewable energy company, took control of the club in 2010 and began reshaping its policies.

“Football clubs can influence society to create change,” he said. “And to do that, they’ve got to set a good example.”

Forest Green Rovers’ plantbased menu was granted a vegan trademark by the Vegan Society last year. The team claims to be the world’s first fully vegan soccer club. While the players are not committed to being vegan outside of team meals, several say they are.

One popular dish is the “Q Pie,” made with meat substitute Quorn, rather than beef or chicken.

“Some people come in and might think; ‘Oh god, vegan food,’” said head chef Jade Crawford. “But then as soon as they try it, they’re like: ‘Actually it’s quite nice.’”

The pitch, meanwhile, is tended without pesticides. And rather than driving a gas-powered mower, groundskeepers use a solar-powered robotic lawn mower, nicknamed “The Mowbot.”

It works like a Roomba vacuum cleaner, driving in straight lines across the pitch until it encounters an obstacle.

Forest Green, known as the Green Devils to their fans, donated to a project in India to offset its remaining emissions.

Being environmentally friendly seems compatible with sporting success, too. Last year, the club was promoted to the English Football League, the fourth tier, for the first time in its 129-year history.