Even Royal Ascot is under starter’s orders to go green

The first Royal Ascot of the King Charles’ reign last week was odds on favourite to become more environmentally friendly which is welcome news, says a green energy expert.

Midlands environment specialist Ron Fox said: “It is good to see a top sporting setting an example and going full gallop to cut its carbon footprint.”

For the first time the village enclosure at the track aimed to be net zero by:

• The Berkshire racecourse area used solar power for its electricity.
• All glass, plastic and other waste was taken away by electric vehicles to be recycled and composted.
• Also, half of the food was plant-based and locally sourced, as was the drink.
• For anything that was not fully net zero an offset programme followed the Woodland Carbon Code. This was set up in 2011to help organisations to create woodlands to offset their CO2 emissions.

Ron, of Noreus Ltd on the University of Keele Science Innovation Park, said it was encouraging that this policy was going to be rolled out to other parts of the race calendar once the data from last week’s event had been analysed.

For the last four years the Berkshire racecourse had not been sending any waste to landfill while wildflower meadows had been set up within the estate.

On top of that beehives have been installed inside the venue, while reservoirs collect rainwater from the grandstand roof to use on the course.

King Charles and Queen Camilla attended the five-day event which ran from Tuesday June 20 to Saturday June 24.

The village enclosure, which is a more relaxed area with live music, street food and cocktail bars, hosted up to 10,000 people a day. But it still has a strict dress code with men required to wear a jacket and tie while women must wear a hat and strapless tops are not allowed.

Ascot Racecourse, which is only six miles from Windsor Castle. enjoys close connections with the Royal Family, being founded in 1711 by Queen Anne. One of its frequent visitors was the late Queen Elizabeth II.

It stages 26 days of racing hosting 18 flat meetings between April and October and 8 jump meetings between October and March with 600,000 visitors attending each year, which is 10 per cent of all UK racegoers.

The Royal Meeting, held in June each year, remains the highlight of the British summer while the prestigious King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes is run over the course in July.

“I only hope other top sporting events follow Royal Ascot’s environmental example and also aim to go green,” concluded Ron.

If you want any advice on green solutions and more ideas contact Ron on 0845 474 6641.