Cycling to training and second-hand shoes, Betis's Bellerin wins green award

LONDON :Training ground car parks at top European soccer clubs are usually stacked with gleaming super cars but former Arsenal player Hector Bellerin prefers two wheels to four.

Spaniard Bellerin, who now plays for Real Betis, chooses to cycle to work or use public transport - part of his determination to eschew materialism and use his sporting profile to promote sustainability.

"It would be easier to take a cab. I know I'm privileged, but ... we need greener cities, with fewer cars," Bellerin, who on Monday was named global champion at the BBC Green Sport Awards, said.

The 30-year-old is not your stereotypical soccer player. He uses his large social media following to highlight the impact climate change is having on sport and tries to encourage his followers to be more ethical consumers.

"I feel with power comes responsibility. Every time someone puts a microphone next to you, there's a chance to talk about issues, to generate conversation," he told the BBC.

Bellerin, who was born along the coast from Barcelona, developed a passion for the environment from a young age and his lifestyle fits with his ethos. He is a vegan and even buys his clothes in second-hand stores.

"It's about giving what you consume a good life and, when you're done, giving it another life," he said. "We're constantly bombarded by advertising that creates a false sense of need."

Bellerin joined Arsenal's academy as a 16-year-old where he came under the watchful eye of Arsene Wenger - the manager he says helped him ingrain good values.

"I learned a lot from him - not focused on sustainability itself because I feel like that word nowadays has very clear connotations, but more about a holistic way of living, and I think sustainability comes into that,"