Kinsale Open is Going Green

Kinsale Tennis Club – Our Green Open

Kinsale Tennis Club (KTC) decided to run their annual Open as a Green Event after Plastic Free Kinsale, a community initiative to help reduce plastics and encourage correct recycling, approached them to make changes in how their club handled waste. KTC hopes to raise awareness among our own members and the Open attendees about the changes we can all make to reduce our carbon footprint and be more sustainable, while still enjoying an excellent tennis Open.
We will be reducing our paper usage with electronic registration, where possible. Tennis balls will be bought in bulk and we will reuse old plastic containers. Local produce will be used where possible and highlighted using Transition Town Kinsale’s 50 Mile Award. Food which is likely to become food waste the next day will offered to those there at the end of each evening. KTC always use their own crockery and cutlery, with no disposables on offer. This year we will extend that out to water bottles and discourage the use of single use plastic water bottles. Players and attendees will be asked to bring their own reusable bottle that can be filled on site. Reusable bottles will also be available to borrow or purchase.
Recycling correctly is key for KTC at our Green Open. We will have labelled bins on site and for the first time these will include clear visuals as to what goes where. This will double up as an educational piece to all those in attendance, who will hopefully take their learnings home and use them there too.
Attendees will be encouraged to car-pool and those who travel four in a car will be invited to enter a raffle. Lifts to and from the Cork Bus can also be organised so that attendees can avail of public transport. This needs to be booked 24hours in advance.
Solar phone charges will also be available on the day. And KTC will be highlighting the small changes they are making in the clubhouse to reduce energy consumption.
The aim is to transform our tennis open into a sustainable one where we continue to run an excellent Open but in a more environmentally friendly way. Plastic Free Kinsale and Transition Town Kinsale will be highlighting their local sustainability initiatives throughout the week. KTC acknowledge and appreciate the funding received from the Voice Recycling Programme to run this green event.

http://www.kinsaletennisclub.com/
https://www.plasticfreekinsale.com/
http://www.transitiontownkinsale.org/
http://voiceireland.org/rap/

The Tennis
• Reduce paper; registration etc. will be done electronically as much as possible.
• Buy tennis balls in bulk and reuse old plastic containers.

The Food
• Local produce will be used where possible and highlighted with Transition Town Kinsale’s 50 Mile Award.
• KTC are delighted that the local restaurateurs will be providing the dinners for each evening once again.
• KTC already uses crockery and cutlery during the Open but does sell a lot of plastic bottles of water at the event so it was decided to target this. Water (and cordials) will be available at the clubhouse and attendees will be asked to bring their own reusable bottles that can be filled on site. Reusable bottles will also be available to borrow or purchase.
• Food which is likely to become food waste the next day will offered to those there at the end of each evening.

Our Waste
• KTC aims to first reduce our waste at the Open by avoiding packaging.
• KTC aims to achieve 100% correct recycling. To do this four bins with clear visuals as to what can go in each one will be provided. The Green Team will also be available to answer any queries.
1. Recycling bin – all recycling must be clean & dry
2. Food waste bin – small one in the Kitchen and large one outside
3. Glass bin – bottles rinsed
4. Waste bin – for everything else and we hope much reduced from last year.

The Energy we use
• Solar chargers will be available on the day to charge phones etc.
• And KTC will be highlighting the small changes they are making in the clubhouse to reduce energy consumption.

How we get there
• Attendees will be encouraged to car-pool and those who travel four in a car will be invited to enter a raffle.
• Lifts to and from the Cork Bus can also be organised so that attendees can avail of public transport. This needs to be booked 24hours in advance.

Inspire Sustainability
Plastic Free Kinsale and Transition Town Kinsale will be highlighting their local sustainability initiatives throughout the week and the Green Team will be available for any queries attendees may have.

KTC acknowledges and appreciates the funding received from the
Voice Recycling Programme to run this green event.