Sea Lanes Brighton

Sustainability

Sustainability is and has always been at the forefront with the decisions for Sea Lanes. Powered by South Downs Leisure, we aim to implement our vision by making our facilities carbon net zero by 2030 for dry side and 2040 including our pools.

We believe that by working together, we can do amazing things and help the planet. We want to shout out from Sea Lanes roof top the impact we can have today and for the future. Please help us to make a difference locally and globally. We really can make a difference together.

Leave No Trace Brighton

Since 2019, Leave No Trace Brighton has been leading monthly beach cleans along Brighton’s shoreline, bringing the community together to protect our beaches and reduce coastal waste.

Each season, their work gathers valuable data on the types and quantities of waste found along the seafront, helping track trends and identify where change is most needed. In 2025 alone, more than 290 volunteers took part in the Sea Lanes clean-ups, collecting over 229 kg of waste from the beach.

The data they collect informs local sustainability strategies, encourages better recycling practices, and continues to inspire individuals and businesses to take responsibility for their impact on the coast.

Sea Lanes is proud to support Leave No Trace Brighton’s work, a partnership that reflects our shared goal of protecting the environment we all depend on.

Read the full Leave No Trace Brighton case study here.

Becoming Single Use Plastic Free

Since opening in 2023, Sea Lanes has been committed to reducing single-use plastic across the site. Working closely with on-site businesses, we carried out a full packaging audit in 2025 to identify areas where improvements could be made.

Key changes included:

  • Replacing all remaining plastic bottled drinks with glass or cans.
  • Introducing reusable Huskee cups for hot drinks and glassware for cold beverages.
  • Transitioning overnight oats and sauces to glass jars and compostable pots.
  • Embedding sustainability requirements in lease agreements and vendor handbooks.
  • Installing a 1.4-tonne on-site composting system to process food and compostable packaging waste.

These steps have helped establish a more circular, low-waste model for the Sea Lanes community. Regular audits, vendor training, and customer education continue to drive this work forward, with the long-term goal of achieving a completely single-use-plastic-free site.

Read the full case study here.

Solar Panels

You may have noticed the solar panels on the roof of the changing village, these provide enough KWH to run the pool pumps and in the first month of Sea Lanes opening have generated 2200 kWH.

Pool

The pool cover is used overnight to retain the heat and avoid evaporation in the pool. By covering the pool, this reduces the cost of up to 20% and saves 100,000 kWh of energy with a pool cover.

We use ACO products that enhances the chlorine in the pool and also protects swimmers from being burnt from the sun also meaning we use less chlorine than other Lidos.

We ask all swimmers to wear a swim hat to help us reduce the amount of hair clogging the filters, thus ensuring a longer filter life.

Cleaning Products

We use products from Delphis that are eco-friendly and work as effectively as traditional products without lasting damage to the environment.

  • Alcohol free
  • Phosphate free
  • Plant based power
  • Vegan friendly
  • 100% Recycled bottles

Changing Village and boilers

The cubicles are made of recycled plastic.
Cold showers and showers on 30 second timers to reduce water wastage.
We can run 2 boilers rather than 3 during quieter periods.

Lost Property

Lost property is stored for 2 weeks and if not claimed, our team will sift through and all the towels are donated to Dogs Trust, goggles to local schools and water bottles donated to local charities. Our waste consumption is also greatly reduced. We will publish statistics in the coming months.

Reduce, reuse, and recycle

We have separate Recycling bins – separating card, plastic and glass. Please help us reduce our waste by:

Using reusable water bottles
Buy good quality swimming costumes that last
Remembering to take your belongings home

Staff have names badges with first name only on badges, this enables us to re-use badges when staff leave.

Staff uniform, we are currently looking into sustainable uniform for staff so watch this space!

Green Travelling

We encourage green travelling to and from Sea Lanes. South Downs Leisure have purchased 3 electric bikes for staff to use to travel between centres.

Staff meetings are online to minimise travel between centres.

Going Paperless

We are implementing paperless across all our site and includes electronic contracts, invoices and timesheets for staff.