Recycled T-shirts Keep 5,000 Plastic Bottles From Landfill

Merchandise for this year’s Brendan Foot Supersite Round the Bays will be made from recycled plastic bottles as part of Sport Wellington’s Sustainable Event Policy, announced in 2019, which pledges to make the iconic Wellington event waste and carbon-free by 2025.

“All of this year’s Dynasty merchandise and the Volunteer tee’s will be made from a sustainable performance yarn made from recycled plastic,” said Dynasty Sport Director Tyler Rakich. “As part of our commitment to the event we wanted to find ways in which we could contribute to Sport Wellington’s goal for the event to achieve zero waste by 2025 and we wanted to find a solution for the clothing and packaging that aligned with that goal.”

The t-shirts are made from recycled plastic bottles, with an average of 11 plastic bottles used per garment: these plastic bottles otherwise would have otherwise ended up in landfill, where they can take up to 11 years to breakdown. More than 5,000 plastic bottles will be kept out of landfills and instead donned by keen runners, walkers, and families participating in the annual fun run/walk.

The design for this year’s Wellington Round the Bays merchandise was determined by a nation-wide competition, where members of the public submitted their designs and were then judged by an expert panel consisting of designers.

The winner, Sarah Illington, is a local Wellington designer and was excited last week to see her design in person as she received her event t-shirt.

Sarah describes her design as a celebration of the beloved event and those who participate. The design visualises the diverse characters of Wellington and how they choose to move from start to finish. People are at the core of Round the Bays, so whether they’re walking, running, or manning the sausage sizzle stand, they are integral to the camaraderie of the event which the design highlights.

“As well as the sustainable merchandise, we’re also excited for the 2021 event to be using race bibs that can be recycled and medals made from recyclable materials,” said Sport Wellington Event Director John Grieve. “As recipients of the 2020 Most Sustainable Business Project at the Keep NZ Beautiful Awards we were determined to extend our positive sustainability practices and were delighted that Dynasty could help us with this. These are changes which we aim to continue into the future and meet our 2025 sustainability target.”

Brendan Foot Supersite Wellington Round the Bays is taking place on 21 February. Registrations are open until 20th February. Purchase your merchandise and register at www.wellingtonroundthebays.co.nz.

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