Australia’s First Carbon Neutral Rugby Club - The Gordon Highlanders!

Fight Global Warming & Climate Change with a Greenhouse Friendly, Carbon Neutral Rugby Club

Anyone for a game of carbon neutral rugby?

The Gordon Rugby Football Club is proud to announce it’s Australia’s first greenhouse friendly, carbon neutral rugby club! This makes Gordon the first rugby club in Australia to offer its players, members and supporters the opportunity to enjoy 'green rugby', and to help offset greenhouse emissions whilst battling it out on the field.

Gordon Rugby has offset its carbon emissions with a number of initiatives. The club started by addressing its electricity consumption at head office and Chatswood oval (including the emissions produced by the oval’s lighting during evening training sessions and home games). The assessment included calculating emissions produced by waste from operating the office and oval; embodied energy of the club’s computers; and the carbon emissions from transportation – both the team bus and players’ vehicles. Once calculated, Gordon Rugby offset all emissions by investing in energy efficiency initiatives and renewable energy projects. By doing so, Gordon Rugby is helping to reduce its carbon footprint by putting back into the environment more than it takes out.

The Gordon Rugby Football Club received its certification from the Carbon Reduction Institute of Australia on Friday, 30 March 2007, where it has been certified as a NoCO2 Organisation. That is, its activities are deemed ‘carbon neutral’, having totally negated all greenhouse gas emissions produced from running the club.

Why Gordon Rugby took the lead in the battle with Global Warming & Climate Change

Surveys show that 86% of Australians believe that not enough is being done about global warming and climate change. When Gordon Rugby Executive David Bezer was approached by the Carbon Reduction Institute, he quickly sought to calculate the club’s impact on the environment. When David considered the large number of climate aware people (86%) and Australia’s love of rugby, he suddenly saw an opportunity for Gordon to display its commitment to the environment and its leadership amongst rugby clubs, by demonstrating responsibility towards the club’s emissions by becoming a carbon neutral rugby club. In doing so, Gordon Rugby is helping to reduce greenhouse emissions and slow global warming and climate change.

So come along to enjoy some carbon neutral rugby and help tackle climate change!

The Gordon Rugby Football Club was founded in 1927 on Sydney’s Northshore. View detailed club history.

Read more about: Global Warming | Climate Change | the Greenhouse Effect

Become a Carbon Neutral Rugby Club

Learn more about the Carbon Reduction Institute | Green Products