So how can you encourage people to wear something more than once? But have you thought about the product's lifetime, or life cycle? Often the reality is, the product isnвЂ™t worn more than a couple of times, before it gets thrown away or given to charity.

T-shirts make for great race sellers or freebies to give with your entry. Its an exciting new proposition for your runners which would make great photo and video content, as trialled at some of Londons largest races. But also be aware that as a small startup theyвЂ™re flooded with requests and might need some time to get back to you. TheyвЂ™re not cheap, however, so will likely require sponsorship. At races they can act as вЂedible water blobsвЂ™, to hydrate your runners in different mouthful sizes of water without any waste left behind. TheyвЂ™re made out of seaweed and can contain any form of liquid. NOTPLA water blobs (previously known as Ooho!) are an innovative solution to вЂthe future of packagingвЂ™, able to serve up on-demand water portions.Think of it as a special memento from your race! Runners can either put collapsible cups or bottles in their pockets while they run, or can attach it to their wrist if it comes with a band. Although this might add an expense to your event, you could get it sponsored by agreeing to your sponsor's logo on them. Give out collapsible cups/bottles for your race.As long as your marshalls are on hand to help fill up participants bottles to avoid congestion, there shouldnвЂ™t be issues. By having large water containers/carrying bulk water to your aid stations with taps to make it easy for your runners to fill up from, you can cut out the need for disposable cups all together. BYO container is an option used by most trail runs already.This might seem like a scary alternative in terms of logistics management at your aid stations, but itвЂ™s not as radical as it might seem. So make sure you factor this into your budget. Which can sometimes be expensive as they canвЂ™t be home composted. However organising their collection for commercial composting is crucial to any of the benefits being redeemed for this. Compostable plastic alternatives such as Vegware can be a great green alternative, as in composting youвЂ™re returning nutrients to the land and really embodying the вЂcircular productвЂ™ idea.Throwing them to landfill is not much better than plastic! Although they will take less time to biodegrade often they have to be taken to specific facilities to do so, as they require specific conditions to degrade in. Biodegradable plastic can be a good alternative to plastic, but make sure the right recycling symbol is found on your product.ItвЂ™s worth comparing both and making sure they have the right recycling symbols required by the recycling centre you will be going to after your event. Recycled paper cups are almost the same as compostable paper cups, but may have a slight difference in price.Compostable paper cups can be a great alternative because these are currently taken by almost every single recycling center, and you can put your logo or a sponsor logo on the cups easily.By switching to other alternatives you could reduce the amount of CO2 and water required to produce and recycle plastic, by vast amounts. Races get through thousands of these, which are an environmental nightmare. So here are some suggestions from us to help your race become the ultimate вЂZero to LandfillвЂ™ type of event. It might sound like a marketing ploy, but if you can double up your efforts to create a greener event and use it as engaging content for your audience at the same time, we think there's no harm in the win-win. But in addition, it can also help you attract the вЂeco warriorвЂ™ athletes of today to your event over others. Worst case scenario, you could start to face frustration from participants, councils and the local community as we see the ever-higher piling problem of waste in our daily lives.Д¬reating an Eco-Friendly race can be simple, and not costly! In doing so you will be socially and environmentally responsible for the materials youвЂ™re buying and how youвЂ™re disposing of them. Even if you donвЂ™t throw them away, and you recycle them, if you donвЂ™t promote your efforts in doing so, your race could seem like a burden to the planet due to the waste generated from mass participation no matter how small your event.

Watching plastic cups or bottles pile up on the side of the road next to your aid stations, can start to leave a bad image for your event.

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