It's estimated around 40 million Christmas crackers in the UK end up in the bin on Christmas Day alone – and these are made up of mostly single-use plastic.
Everton will be aiming to reduce its carbon footprint over the festive period by not providing Christmas crackers in the Hospitality Lounges at Goodison Park in an attempt to lessen the number of single-use plastics on a matchday.
The initiative forms part of the Blues’ ‘Everton for Change’ campaign, which highlights the Club’s commitment to making a positive impact on the planet.
As part of the Club’s festive schedule, Everton host Leicester City on Wednesday (7.45pm) in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup and then welcome the Arsenal on Saturday (12.30pm kick-off) in a Premier League clash.
There will still be plenty of Christmas cheer around Goodison this Blue Crimbo, with the stadium and lounges decorated to celebrate the festive season. The Everton in the Community Spirit Choir will appear on the Fan Zone from 6.20pm before the Leicester City game, singing some classic songs.
Oliver Wright, Head of Hospitality and Sales at Everton Football Club, said: “Since launching ‘Everton for Change’ we’ve been looking at different ways of positively impacting the environment, and removing Christmas crackers from the lounges at Goodison Park is one action we can take that will make a bigger impact than people may realise in helping to prevent unnecessary waste.
"Anyone visiting the stadium and lounges over the festive period will still enjoy a warm welcome from our wonderful staff and lots of festive cheer.”
Everton launched the environmental campaign in October along with the introduction of reusable cups in place of single-use plastic cups at Goodison Park – with fans encouraged to return their reusable cups to designated stackable bins.
The ‘Everton for Change’ branding – and the tagline ‘protecting our planet’ – is visible at Goodison on LED perimeter boards, the big screens and across other parts of the stadium at all matchdays to raise wider awareness of the campaign.
You can read more about ‘Everton for Change’ here.
