University Golf Club

Environmental Programs

Here at University Golf Club our staff is dedicated to programs that lessen our impact on the environment. We know that we can always be improving and will strive to introduce new programs each season, but here are a few things that we are doing right now…

All of our UGC team members receive a reusable coffee mug to reduce the use of disposable cups and glasses.  All team members receive free beverages if they use a reusable mug, but pay full price if they use a disposable mug or glass.

We have reduced excessive waste of water bottles by installing five water filtration stations around the facility - golf shop, 10th tee, teaching tee and two in the Westward Ho.  At the beginning of the program in 2009 we provided groups with stainless steel water bottles, giving away over 500 stainless bottles and removing over 30,000 plastic ones. Today we continue to sell stainless steel bottles in the golf shop.

The Westward Ho! Public House and Grill Room joined the Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Wise program in 2009. Ocean Wise is a conservation program, created to help restaurants and their customers make environmentally friendly seafood choices. Sustainable seafood is defined by the program as species that are caught or farmed in a way that ensures the long-term health and stability of that species, as well as the greater marine ecosystem. The Ocean Wise symbol next to a menu item assures you that option is the best choice for the health of the oceans. In addition to Ocean Wise choices on our regular menu, Chef Ron strives to use local BC products as much as possible as part of our weekly fresh sheets.

In May of 2010 our staff set to work to build a kitchen herb garden. The garden is fully organic and tended by the kitchen staff on a daily basis. The first harvest took place in mid July with our garden producing chives, mint, lemon balm, tarragon, basil, Italian parsley, rosemary and dill, as well as edible flowers.  Photos of the construction of the garden and the harvest can be found on our Facebook Fan Page.  

All of the fryer oil used by our kitchen is picked up by West Coast Reduction Ltd.  The used oil is filtered, sterilized and tested to produce useful products including feed fat and commercially approved biodiesel, a cleaner burning alternative fuel. West Coast Reduction's fleet of trucks is one of the largest fleets in Western Canada that operates on its very own biodiesel fuel blends. In addition to fryer oil we also recycle paper, plastic and glass bottles and cardboard.

Our Golf Shop team is constantly searching out and exploring new products which reduce waste and/or are made using sustainable means and materials. To date we have purchased clothing made from sustainable materials including coconut fibers, coffee grinds, bamboo and recycled pop bottles. Click here to read more about the sustainable materials used by A|U|R. We also offer the option to purchase bamboo tees, which are eco-friendly and fully biodegradable.