Eco Sport - Love the Planet

More than ever, we should consider our effect on the planet in all parts of our lives.  This page is not designed to preach about being ‘green’, but offers advice and ideas on making our sport and lifestyles as environmentally friendly as possible.  We hope you can use our tips to reduce your carbon footprint, especially resulting from sport, and promote a culture of recycling and reuse while reducing waste:

• Instead of travelling long distances for events, including international flights, could you support more local events or find similar events that are closer to home?  We all love to travel, but perhaps we should be going abroad less frequently, especially if it involves flying.
• Do you need to offset your carbon emissions?  There are conflicting views on this, so only you can decide if it's right for you.  Either way, if you support planting more trees, that has to be a good thing!
• Plan a family bike-packing holiday.  The UK has some incredible places to visit, and thousands of miles of quiet roads to explore.  Why not book YHA or B&B accommodation and go on an adventure.  You could even carry a tent and go wild camping, all while logging some miles!
• Do your running / cycling shoes or clothes really need replacing? If they’ve done their job, place them in the textile recycling bank so someone else may get some use. If not, squeeze a few more miles out of them or use running shoes as leisure /gardening wear.  Manufacturers will advise you on frequent replacement, but squeezing a few more miles out of them may reduce the impact of the clothing and textiles industry on the environment.
• Incorporate your daily commute into your training programme if possible, both walking / running and cycling.  We have coached many people who have maximised this to great effect.
• Bike or run to club / group training sessions.  If you want a longer session, or a brick for the triathletes amongst us, then this is a great idea, especially if it means the car stays at home.
• All that training generates lots of washing so reduce the temperature setting on the washing machine and use environmentally sensitive detergents such as Ecover http://www.ecover.com/gb/en/default.aspx
• Use reusable drinks bottles rather than disposable plastic bottles.  There are now a number of biodegradable bottles being made.
• Use reusable cups for your hot drinks.  The plastic and general waste from the take away industry is pretty horrific.
• Use biodegradable bike cleaning products such as Muc-Off.
• Buy second hand equipment, you’ll be amazed at the bargains you can get!
• Train outdoors as much as possible, reducing use of powered gym equipment such as treadmills.
• Take your rubbish with you (*).  Even during the heat of racing, you can tuck those bar and gel wrappers away and dispose of them properly later.  Race organisers are under increasing pressure from local authorities and litter is a big issue, so help give your sport a good name!
• Race locally as much as possible, reducing the need to travel and supporting races in your area.
• Find a local / national charity project that takes your old sports kit and equipment and donates it to developing countries.
• Search for companies who take old inner tubes and recycle them.
• When looking for new products of any kind, check the manufacturers environmental and ethical credentials.  Are they a 'fire and forget' company, or do they actively reduce their environmental impact, and do they look after their employees?

* At the 2011 Tour de France the riders were encouraged to hold onto their gel and bar wrappers until they reached designated rubbish collection zones.  You could see many riders putting wrappers back in their pockets and then discarding them at the collection points - if they can do it at the highest level, then so can we!  This is now becoming the norm at elite level but we have a way to go before everyone conforms to this ethos and keeps their rubbish until it can be properly disposed of.