With the use of 44,000 reusuable cups and the implementation of an event waste minimisation policy, the iconic Brendan Foot Supersite Wellington Round the Bays event, has been selected as a finalist in the 2020 Wellington Gold Awards.
An annual fun run/walk, Sport Wellington entered its signature event into the Green Gold category, where businesses are evaluated based on their sustainability best practices and products.
“We are really proud to have been one of the largest events of it’s kind to use reusable cups and are looking forward to increasing our positive impact on the environment in the following years”, said John Grieve, Event Director, Sport Wellington.
With a goal for Round the Bays to become a zero-waste event by 2025, Sport Wellington has implemented several processes over the past three years to achieve this green vision and be at the front of the race for environmental protection.
In 2018 a digital race pack was introduced, where participants used a mobile app rather than hard copy resources.
In 2019, Sport Wellington introduced Globelet’s reusable washable cups at the on-course drink stations, which eliminated over 30,000 compostable cups from Wellington’s waste system. PUMP also provided recycling bins which allowed the Mini-PUMP bottles handed out at the finish line that year to have another life.
And in 2020, thanks to support from the Wellington City Council Waste Minimisation Seed Fund, 14,000 Globelet cups were purchased to use at the finish line instead of the plastic bottles. With a message of ‘hand me back’ printed on them, these sterilised cups will be reused every year, resulting in a massive reduction of production and recycling.
Andrew Gilham, General Manager for Australia and New Zealand, Globelet, commented that “We are delighted to be supporting Sport Wellington at Round the Bays. Through this partnership, we are pioneering eliminating single-use plastics at running events, taking another step towards our goal of ending single-use plastic waste in this generations lifetime.”
In 2020, Sport Wellington also implemented a strict waste minimisation policy and encouraged all participants and sponsors to support their vision. This included, among others:
ensuring all vendors serve food and drink in recyclable containers
using low/zero emission event-branded vehicles
encouraging participants to use public transport to get to and from the event
composting organic waste
replacing printed advertising with digital marketing wherever possible
Participants and sponsors were more than happy to help implement the new policy and gave their support at the event, where 12 recycling bins and organic bins where extensively used at the Finishers Festival on Kilbirnie Park.
Sport Wellington is looking to reduce waste production at future Round the Bays events, rather than just trying to recycle, and is positive that it will achieve its zero-waste goal by 2025.
The Wellington Gold awards are held annually to celebrate excellence and innovation of businesses in the Greater Wellington region. Winners of the 2020 awards will be announced at the Awards evening being held on 17 September at TSB arena.