Berkhamsted celebrates sustainability award

Craft said: “Right down to baking our own pies, pastries and bread – which cuts down on the ‘food miles’ which we create – we have tried to reduce the golf club’s environmental footprint in every area, including the kitchen! Improving sustainability is a mindset really: it challenges the brain. Seeing people throughout the club get into it has been very rewarding. Berkhamsted Common is criss-crossed with public rights of way across the golf course, and as we manage the land we feel responsible for setting a great example. So both on a personal level, with the Champion award, and at club level with the GEO Certification, I am thrilled that Berkhamsted Golf Club has been recognised like this. Our mindset will not change, and we will always look for ways to be better.”

And there’s much more still to be done, says Craft. “It doesn’t end here, not by a long way,” he said. “We’re looking into food waste composting, which our flower beds will love. We’re also investigating biomass boilers, as, with approximately 40,000 trees here on the estate, we have a lot of wood waste. And we hope to encourage animal grazing up here on the common, which is how the land was used in days gone by. As stewards of this fabulous natural piece of land, we’re putting together a habitat management plan for Berkhamsted Common to cover the next ten years.”