350 million tonnes of plastic are being produced each year. This could weigh more than humanity, which in 2013 was estimated at 316 million tonnes. Being sustainable and environmentally friendly is therefore more important now than ever before and, if everyone does their bit, a difference can be made. At Appin Sports we endeavour to reduce our carbon footprint and the production of single use plastics, and encourage our customers to do the same. If you are aspiring to make your event more eco-friendly but don’t know where to start, we are here to help!

Biodegradable Bags

Join us in favouring our biodegradable bags! Rather than having plastic finisher bags, or Finisher T-shirts packaged in plastic – order our biodegradable bags! Everyone is now more aware of their plastic consumption, and finishers will love to see events making this simple change to help the environment.

Expert Tip: Order Technical T-Shirts from Appin Sports during November and December 2019 for FREE biodegradable t-shirt bags-no matter the quantity!

Reduce Single Use Cups And Bottles

Plastic bottles and cups are often the only evidence of a mass participation event having taken placed. However, to reduce plastic pollution, why not encourage participants to bring their own sports bottle to the event instead of relying on water stations? As long as all correspondence with participants prior to the event states clearly that there will not be water bottle stations, due to being more eco-friendly, this is a step towards less plastic (and water!) wastage on the day of the event.

Expert Tip: How about offering bespoke reusable water bottles or cups to participants, to make your event stand out? It is a really great, practical alternative to the usual popular giveaways and you can bet it will get a lot of use (and race exposure!). Appin Sports bottles come in all sizes, shapes, and some are even foldable- perfect for during long runs.

Rethink Waste

Instead of filling goody bags with plastic and paper flyers and discount vouchers, make your goody bag virtual and reduce unnecessary waste! Participants can still benefit from all the usual discounts that are on offer with your event, but rather than it being printed on paper and put in a plastic bag, vouchers can be emailed to participants, as well as be assembled for ease on the event website. This way printing costs are saved, and discounts are far less likely to be lost!

Expert Tip: Having an online goodybag is a great way for organisers to monitor who is using the offers, and which is the most popular. This offers a great insight to influence decisions at future events.

Eco-Friendly Event Bags

So, you have biodegradable bags for your t-shirts, the medals are tissue wrapped, single use plastics are discouraged at the event – what is left? Well, why not use a bespoke drawstring bag or a tote bag, to keep everything together – they are budget friendly, reusable, and a great promotional item.

Expert Tip: Order event bags in bulk to cover multiple years of your event- 1000 Appin Sports Drawstring Bags are as little as £0.50!

Organise Essential Waste Management

Providing recycling bins for your participants is essential, and it will promote your event as eco-friendly and aware of its environmental impact. Ensure that these bins are the correct size for needs, easy to find, and have clear signage on them. Also, make sure that your waste management team is being honest about how waste is dealt with, you cannot promote a sustainability message if resources are simply being burnt.

Expert Tip: To make clear recycling bin signs, be direct and avoid long, confusing ‘dos and don’ts’ lists.

What Are Appin Sports Doing?

At Appin Sports by: combining shipments; ensuring that products are not overproduced; and limiting single use plastic production, we are taking steps to limit our impact on the environment. In 2019, we introduced an important new practice into the business.

Reducing Plastic Production

By offering all customers purchasing t-shirts the option to go packaging free, or receive biodegradable product bags, we have successfully reduced the businesses plastic production. Throughout 2019, Appin Sports has produced 104,357 less plastic bags thanks to encouraging our customers to swap to biodegradable bags, or skip t-shirt packaging altogether. It has been an easy and encouraged practice to put in place, and it works towards improving an urgent cause.