Champions enjoy special status and lifelong membership of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, so it is a measure of the conviction with which the AELTC approaches its role in helping to protect the environment that the army of people roaming the Grounds, encouraging sustainable practices and appropriate recycling during The Championships, are called Eco Champions.

For years, the upcycling story that created headlines from The Championships was Wimbledon’s donation of used balls to wildlife trusts to support endangered harvest mice. Tennis balls, attached to poles above ground, allowed mice to safely nest away from predators. Needless to say, the pictures were adorable.

But “cute” has turned to “acute” in response to the great climate challenge, and wherever you wander in the Grounds today, you see in action an inspiring catalogue of sensitively integrated sustainable initiatives.

From reusable cups for cold drinks and sustainably sourced card boxes for strawberries to the discarded racket strings collected for recycling and the Wimbledon Shop’s performance wear collection made from recycled plastic bottles, the message hits home: we all have a responsibility to play our part and mitigate our impacts. 

And we all can help in a myriad more ways than perhaps we knew.

“It’s a big day for us, our first Environment Day and we hope that we can shine a spotlight on the climate challenge,” said Hattie Parks, AELTC Sustainability Manager. “We’re teaming up with the Met Office, the BBC and with the COP26 team [the United Nations Climate Change Summit set to be hosted by the UK in Glasgow later this year] to talk about what people can do to protect the environment.”

“Sport, tennis, we’re not immune to climate change. Heat will be an issue in the future. Tennis players more and more are aware and we hope that today we can encourage people to think about how to use their voice, to raise awareness and champion the cause and get everyone involved.”

Wimbledon, the premier grass court tournament in the world, is the ideal place to show people how to go greener. And to inform people about sustainable measures with take-home ideas gleaned from practices put in place at a live sports event.

Lawn mowers powered by renewable electricity… garden waste collected throughout the year to create mulch to reduce the need to water flower beds...motion sensor lighting to help reduce energy consumption... plant-based cream and vegan ice cream to accompany the traditional strawberries.

Clothing is another example. This year sees the launch of The Wimbledon Collection, which features an outfit made almost entirely from polyester fibres reclaimed from discarded plastic bottles. From next year, 99 per cent of the fabric used in the entire performance wear collection will be made from recycled sources; each individual item containing the equivalent of up to 20 plastic bottles. 

If you’ve wondered about the introduction of bright blue on the 2021 Championship merchandise, such as in the Activewear Sports capsule collection, it is because a symbolic “ocean blue” trim has been chosen above Wimbledon’s trademark purple and green to highlight sustainable sourcing. 

This year sees the introduction of a uniform return scheme, a huge operation when you consider the amount of uniform required by the 6,000 staff taken on for The Championships. Dressing the army of Grounds staff, court attendants, data collectors, media staff, transport facilitators, retail assistants, housekeeping and catering roles is quite an annual undertaking.

The AELTC’s standout achievements include:

• No waste from The Championships goes to landfill.
• Non-recycleable waste undergoes an energy recovery process to produce electricity for the National Grid.
• The Food Charter sets out how Wimbledon ensures the best quality, seasonal, sustainable, responsibly sourced ingredients, showcasing the best of British produce.
• Kitchen waste that cannot be redistributed is sent for anaerobic digestion, which produces compost for agriculture and horticultural purposes.
• Electric coaches transport the players to and from their hotel.
• Jaguar, the Official Car of The Championships, has 11 I-PACE electric vehicles in their courtesy car fleet.
• The Club buys 100 per cent renewable electricity which contributes a significant reduction to its carbon footprint.

The Grounds themselves – with No.1 Court’s Living Wall flowering with pollinator-friendly plants and the wildflower band at the Aorangi practice courts – are a reminder of the beauty of nature at its best and the importance of future-guarding the planet.

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