Eco-warrior and outspoken founder of the world’s first green energy company, Ecotricity, Dale Vince is on a mission to green up sport. With a football pitch that is organic and rainwater-fed, an eco-friendly stadium with solar panels on display, LED floodlights and a menu only serving vegan food, his Forest Green Rovers is turning ‘the beautiful game’ green.

At their home ground ‘The New Lawn’, their solar-powered ‘Mowbot’ robot lawnmower can even text their groundsman.

Through a spirit of challenging the convention of football and putting a flag in the ground and saying “no, we can do this differently, we don’t have to conform to the status quo”, they are true pioneers. It obviously comes with a risk that traditional football fans will balk at its difference (especially the vegan food), but Vince is not willing to compromise his values. 

AtlasAction: Sponsor a match day.

Forest Green Rovers was mapped by Louise Ash in her AtlasChart: 5 projects with Meaning.

Accidental ethical business geek Louise Ash is the organiser of Meaning conference – a way of sharing stories about what happens when business is brave enough to think differently.