Make your home greener | Tips Aviva Stadium

Biodiversity:

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Kathy: Aviva Stadium has hosted some of 

the biggest days in Irish sport,

 

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along with many memorable concerts

and much more.

 

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But a lot goes on here on a day to day

basis also, including a massive

 

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undertaking to ensure this amazing stadium

is run with sustainability to the fore.

 

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I'm Kathy Kavanagh and today

I'll be talking to Aviva Stadium

 

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Sustainability Manager Aidan Byrne,

who'll talk us through

 

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how they've got what it takes

to make this place even greener.

 

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Aidan, tell us about some of the key areas

the stadium focuses on

 

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from a sustainability perspective.

 

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Aidan: Our current sustainability programme

focuses on three core areas

 

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water stewardship, waste management

and recycling and biodiversity protection.

 

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Kathy: Some people might be surprised

that Aviva Stadium is the home

 

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of some of Irish native species.

 

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Can you tell us a little bit about that?

 

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Aidan: As a business supporter of 

the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan

 

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our Biodiversity Protection Programme

 

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 has a keen focus on supporting local pollinators.

 

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With that,

we actually teamed up with Aviva

 

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to install a six-foot long bug hotel

over in the Aviva Home Turf garden.

 

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Bug hotels are a really great resource

to provide shelter and food

 

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for local insects and there’s over 11,000

different species in Ireland alone.

 

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And these little creatures,

they play such a vital role

 

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in our ecosystem

by pollinating all our plants.

 

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So we're very happy to play our part

in the conservation process.

 

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Kathy: Do you have any tips

 

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for people in their homes

as to how they can support biodiversity?

 

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Aidan: When it comes to the garden,

it's best to remember

 

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don't mow, let it grow. By reducing

the amount of times you mow your lawn

 

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to even once a month, it'll allow

native wildflowers like dandelion,

 

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clover and birdsfoot trefoil

to naturally return over time.

 

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So by reducing the amount you mow your lawn,

 

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to even once a month will help them

naturally return one pocket at a time.

 

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You can also build your own simple bug

hotel at home using materials

 

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you find around the house,

 

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And this will encourage beneficial insects

like solitary bees and ladybirds

 

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back into your garden.

 

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You can watch how to build one

step by step at Aviva.ie

 

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Kathy: Oh I love that, might 

do it with the kids. 

 

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Aidan: It’s great fun.

Water stewardship:

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Kathy: Can you tell me a little bit about

 

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what happens behind the scenes in relation

to water stewardship or conservation?

 

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Aidan: Water doesn't get the same attention

as energy management

 

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because it's a lot cheaper than gas,

 

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electricity and oil,

but it's just as important.

 

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So to ensure that we manage this

precious resource in a responsible manner,

 

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we have to make sure that we measure

how much we're using,

 

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where we take it from,

what we do with it

 

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and ultimately how much we're sending back

for treatment in the local plant.

 

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It's also really

 

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important for us to understand

what the impact

 

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our water use is having on the local

environment and the people around us.

 

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Our current water treatment system follows

the reduce, replace and reuse approach.

 

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So, in terms of reducing,

 

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that's all about using more efficient

equipment and processes.

 

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Replacing is about substituting

drinking water with other sources,

 

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like the way we harvest rain off the roof

for our pitch irrigation system. 

 

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Reuse then is more about trying

to recycle grey water,

 

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which is something

we're looking at in the future.

 

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Kathy: Can you tell us a little bit

 

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about how people could be more mindful

about water conservation at home?

 

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Aidan: The reduce, replace, reuse approach

that we use here at the stadium

 

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can easily be adopted at home.

 

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So for reducing, you can look at maybe

installing more water

 

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efficient cisterns in your toilets.

 

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In terms of replacing, what I would advise

 

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people to do is look for

items that aren’t working correctly.

 

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So dripping showerheads,

taps, leaky pipes.

 

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It might just seem like a few drips

of water, but it all adds up over time.

 

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And also by replacing these items,

 

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you might save yourself a bit of money

as well as stress.

 

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Kathy: Some great tips for everybody there.

 

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I have a leaky tap at home,

so I will check that out.

 

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Aidan: So in terms of reusing.

 

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What's important

is to make the most out of the water

 

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that you're already using at home.

 

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So when you're washing your vegetables

or boiling pasta,

 

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instead of letting all that water

just disappear down

 

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the drain, never to be used again,

you can actually use that

 

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to water your plants.

 

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So that's really useful,

 

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particularly in the summer

when there's a shortage of water.

 

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Kathy: Such a good tip.

Waste Management:

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Kathy: So, on match day there’s around 

50,000 people plus in this stadium.

 

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I'd imagine that makes waste management

quite a complex issue

 

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for the stadium to manage.

 

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Can you tell us a little bit about that?

 

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Aidan: Sure.

 

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Yeah, it is definitely a complex process,

 

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but we do have a structured system

in place that focuses on waste generation,

 

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how we process that on site before

we send it away to our waste management

 

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provider for further processing.

 

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It follows the reduce, reuse,

recycle approach.

 

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This has actually led us

to remove single-use plastics from site.

 

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So, we implemented a reusable cup

to get rid of the single-use

 

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PET plastic pint glasses.

 

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Since we put this in, we've saved over

one and a half million cups

 

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and that equates

to about ten tonnes of waste.

 

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We also tried to support Ireland’s transition

away from the linear economy approach.

 

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So that's kind of where you take your waste

and dispose

 

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to kind of promote

the new circular economy.

 

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So make, take, recycle. A good example of

this is our new Gumdrop bins,

 

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which takes waste chewing gum,

which then gets reprocessed

 

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and turned into a new polymer

called gum-tec,

 

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which then goes on to make new Gumdrop

bins. So the cycle continues.

 

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Kathy: Can you tell us a little bit

about how people could practice

 

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positive waste management at home?

 

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Aidan: At this stage,

everyone knows the importance

 

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and benefits of recycling,

but not everyone knows

 

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that you can only recycle items

if they are clean, dry and loose.

 

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So REPAK would report that 30%

of what goes into your recycling bin

 

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every year is contaminated.

 

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So just make sure to check all your food

packaging before you pop it in the bin.

 

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There's also really great apps out there

to avoid food waste, such as 

 

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Too Good To Go.

 

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Basically, it's a great resource

which connects people

 

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with shops and restaurants

that have surplus food at reduced cost.

 

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Aviva also have a really good charity

partner called FoodCloud,

 

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which connects businesses

that have surplus food

 

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with other charities and community groups

that really need it.

 

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So it would be great

 

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if people would check out and see

if they can volunteer at their local hub.

 

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Kathy: I hope you've enjoyed this little

look behind the scenes at what happens at

 

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Aviva Stadium to put sustainability

at the heart of this amazing place

 

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and that you've taken

a little bit of inspiration

 

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as to what you can do too, because

remember, whether it's in your own home

 

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or the home of Irish rugby,

we've all got what it takes

 

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to make a difference.