Triangle’s Eco Audit: Improving site-wide sustainability

The Triangle Adventure Playground is London’s oldest on-site adventure playground, based in Oval, Lambeth. In 2024, the site underwent an eco audit carried out by 3 Acorns. Since then, they have implemented several changes to reduce their emissions and improve sustainability.  

The Challenge

The Triangle Adventure Playground is London’s oldest on-site adventure playground, offering free play to all young people aged 6-17.

The Triangle aims to improve the well-being of our young people and their families. By understanding the challenges they face, we use the power of inclusive adventure play to grow self-confidence and help overcome those challenges.

It was first established in 1957 by Marjorie Porter MBE in collaboration with Lady Allen of Hurtwood and the London Council. The Triangle is an independent playground, funded through grants, donations and a committee drawn from its local community.

The site features various play structures, including swings, climbing towers, zip wires, and a giant trampoline. Among these is the Triangle Hut, which houses arts and crafts, board games, music, photography facilities, and more. All of this is surrounded by wild nature, allowing visitors to interact with their environment through exploration and free play, all while in central London.

Over its 69-year history, more buildings, equipment, and facilities have been added to the playground as funding and community needs have evolved. In 2018, it established the Triangle Nature Club, an ongoing multi-year programme of environmental play activities over 147 sessions each year, focusing on biodiversity, climate change, nature play and gardening

Action Taken

In 2024, Triangle Adventure Playground was awarded a grant from the City of London’s City Bridge Foundation Greening the Third Sector (opens in a new window) programme to commission an eco audit by 3 Acorns (opens in a new window). Eco audits outline ways organisations can become more sustainable and reduce their carbon footprint.

The audits involve visiting the site and speaking with staff and trustees to map and review policies and decision-making regarding energy and water use, waste, travel, and purchasing practices.

In November 2024, the environmental consultants provided a detailed report and action plan on the project's current environmental performance, along with recommendations to reduce carbon, waste, and overheads and to boost environmental practices among staff, visitors, and the wider community.

Recommendations from the report

• Divesting and shifting to a more ethical pension fund for staff.
• Move accounts to a bank that doesn’t invest in fossil fuels.
• Conduct a waste audit to identify areas for improvement and develop a waste reduction plan.
• Improve recycling facilities and set an initial target of 45%.
• Move to more plant-based catering options, removing beef and lamb.
• Support work-from-home staff to reduce their carbon emissions.
• Switch to a green tariff energy supplier.
• Monitor and report environmental performance to the board of trustees.

The Results

Implementated recommendations

Their trustees and management committee have voted to transfer their accounts to a more sustainable bank for the financial year beginning in April 2027.

All food waste is now fully recycled and composted. The Bokashi composting system has been successful, helping improve the soil composition of the allotment beds and rewilded corridor.

A higher proportion of vegetarian and vegan meals is being served to young people, thereby reducing meat intake and, in turn, their CO2 emissions.

The team have rewilded a 100m sq long corridor of wasteland between the site and neighbouring houses. This has turned a junk-filled area into a wildflower meadow with native species, enhancing biodiversity within the playground and providing plenty of safe habitats for a wide variety of species, including stag beetles, foxes, squirrels and butterflies. This area also provides a space for their Nature Club sessions, where young people can participate in activities and workshops on biodiversity and climate change, with opportunities to showcase the results of conservation and rewilding work in action.

WFH staff have also been given support and training to reduce carbon emissions at home, including energy-saving training on work equipment and guidance on home energy efficiency.

Successes and challenges

The food waste recycling works very well, as it provides nutrients and compost for the allotment and wildflower meadow, while also reducing landfill waste.

Rewilding the wasteland corridor has been successful, though it has definitely come with its challenges. For example, the team underestimated the amount of litter they would find in the area and spent more time than originally allocated clearing rubbish from the substrate. The drought throughout the summer was another challenge, requiring more care to ensure the plants had the best chance of survival.

Future implementations

The team hopes to set up a dedicated recycling scheme to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and to provide educational opportunities for young people on recycling, sustainability and climate change.

There are also plans to further reduce the use of meat-based recipes in meals provided to young people during the school holidays to be as environmentally conscious as possible.

Another implementation being explored is replacing the 60m concrete pathway with a permeable surface to reduce flooding along the path and direct rainwater into the gardens.