Sustainability & Climate
Sustainability & climate
We care about climate and sustainability at Vejle Sports School. We are not perfect, but we try to improve, to introduce new and more sustainable efforts and when travelling we make a contribution to the climate.
We want to be a green and environmentally conscious school!
And we want to influence the knowledge, choices and habits of our students. We want our green profile to be visible, when staying at our school.
Cleaning & Bright Water
We make our own cleaning products called Bright Water. By using our special device we make hypochlorous acid from electricity, salt and low-calcium water. The product is more effective for disinfection than alcohol and much healthier for the skin. And you can even drink it, so it is completely harmless. Bright Water is used for surface disinfection. Furthermore, we reduce the level of lime in our water, which means that we need fewer strong detergents for descaling.
2024-
Solar power
In May 2024, we started producing electricity ourselves with our solar system, which is physically located on the roof surfaces of our two sports gyms. The solar system consists of 600 panels of 2 m2 each – adding up to a system of 1200 m2.
We expect to produce 150 – 185 MWh annually over the next 30 years, with the highest yield during the first years and less as the panels age.
We expect to be able to use more than 80% of the produced power ourselves. It serves to our advantage that we consume a large part of our total power consumption during the daytime, e.g. in the kitchen and that our school does not close down during the summer, but carry out activities throughout almost the entire summer, albeit with slightly fewer students than during the rest of the year.
On an annual basis, the system can cover approx. 30% of the school’s electricity consumption, calculated from the current consumption of electricity. For now, we do not have a battery solution connected, but we will follow this opportunity closely in the coming years.
By establishing this solar power system, CO2 emissions are reduced by approx. 100 tons annually.
Via the Ministry of Culture’s pool for energy preparation measures, we have received support of DKK 500,000 out of the total construction cost of DKK 3,150,000.
Classes focusing on climate
We offer classes that focus on sustainable development. Either as inspiration classes or competency classes.
It can't all be theory and talk
These recent years we have worked hard to create interesting classes focusing on nature, climate and sustainability in practice, so that it does not just become a theoretical talk. Fortunately, many of our students find them as exciting as I do.
2019-
Ecological outdoor swimming pool
In 2019 we renovated our old outdoor swimming pool from 1958. Traditionally, it has been disinfected with chlorine, but now it is biologically cleansed through an advanced natural filtering system.
It means that we can avoid using chemicals that are harmful to our natural environment.
Climate friendly food
Our kitchen staff is very aware to produce healthy food while considering sustainability. We prioritize buying seasonal foods, and we also often help the suppliers avoid food waste by taking large lots that are approaching the last sell-by date, while still being fresh. With more than 300 boarders, we can quickly use large quantities of raw materials in the kitchen.
We focus on making nutritious plant-based meals, and we use more and more plant-based protein in the diet. It has also meant that we have reduced the amount of meat and especially beef in the diet.
We go to great lengths to avoid food waste in the kitchen, and very little food now ends up in the bin.
2023-
Trips and climate contributions
Since 2023 we have made climate contributions to compensate for the extra CO2 emission related to the trips.
Make your own climate contribution
2017-
Less waste
We focus on minimizing our waste. We have set specific goals to reduce residual waste and food waste. The residual waste is lowered automatically as we improve our effort to separate waste, but we also want to lower the absolute amount of waste. For many years, our kitchen staff has been very good at minimizing food waste. Therefore, it is a difficult task to improve the effort, but even so, they actually still manage to lower the number a little.
2019-
Waste separation
Naturally, we separate waste. It has been important to us to separate the waste at the source – i.e. inside the school. That is why we have established larger waste stations around the school, where waste separation takes place. Therefore, we have removed bins in rooms and offices to ensure that people go to the bins to separate the waste. Otherwise, the waste will not be separated properly.
Furthermore, we have set up the Waste Corner outside, where our janitors take care of the separated waste and disposal of the waste in cooperation with our waste company and the municipal recycling site.
2023-
Heat regulation
In 2023, we established advanced heating control in rooms, offices and corridors at our school. It means, that we can regulate temperature in the school rooms centrally and control that the heat is switched off when the windows are opened. It has great effect on saving energy.
Currently, we have four boiler and ventilation rooms. They are all built at different stages in the school history. They supply heat to the various rooms at the school, and we have renovated some of them when renovating different school areas to improve their efficiency.
2020-
Less herbicides
We hardly use any herbicides at our school anymore. Instead, we burn away weeds in places where it does not look nice. We also leave pieces of grass unmown to make a better environment for insect life.
Water and hot water
The janitorial department has installed water-saving devices in all showers and sinks as part of our effort to reduce the amount of water we use. Naturally, our outdoor pool uses a large amount of water, but we try to recycle the water to a large extent.
With improved heat management, we achieve the correct cooling of the water, and we can see that the hot water is used efficiently for heating around the buildings.
Saving electricity
We focus on saving electricity at our school. We offer a bonus to our employees, when they can help reduce the consumption of electricity.
The janitorial department is constantly trying to optimize the consumption of electricity, which can be quite a task. We have a myriad of different electrical panels, intersections, CTS systems, all of which were built at different times. We try to use as few resources as possible in connection with ventilation and other appliances that run constantly.
LED light and automatic light control
We use energy-saving lights and automatic light control and light sensors to make sure that light is only on when necessary.
We encourage students to take responsibility for turning off the lights in their rooms and when they leave the classrooms.
Reducing calcium levels in the water
We reduce the calcium level in our water at the school. It makes it possible to use fewer strong detergents for descaling – and the devices that use water from the tap at the school last longer.
There are many aspects of sustainability
We try to consider sustainability when making decisions at our school. It has been interesting to delve into how we can make cleaning much more environmentally friendly by changing our cleaning products. Right now, we are very focusing on how to make climate contributions, which is an incredibly interesting topic.
Contribute to a better climate
We like travelling abroad at Vejle Sports School. However, travelling emits a lot of CO2e.
Therefore, we have chosen to make a climate contribution to compensate for the consumption. Right now, we are supporting a series of good projects that you might also want to support.