Race To End Plastic At Round The Bays 2020

Traditionally, plastic bottles of water are handed out at the finish line – but this year, more sustainable options will be on hand at the Brendan Foot Supersite Round the Bays event.

Thanks to funding support from Wellington City Council, Sport Wellington will substitute bottles with Globelet reusable cups, eliminating 14,000 plastic bottles from Wellington’s waste stream – and they can continue to be used again and again.

Sport Wellington began building towards being the first large-scale event in the world to be zero waste by 2025 when they replaced 30,000 cups with Globelet reusable options in 2019.

These waste minimisation efforts have been made possible by Council’s Waste Minimisation Seed Funds grant, which supports development of innovative solutions for reducing waste.

"Sport Wellington is very grateful for the seed funding it has received from the Wellington City Council Waste Minimisation Fund," says Phil Gibbons, CEO Sport Wellington.

“Taking 14,000 bottles out of the waste stream is a fantastic outcome as a result of this grant funding."

Globelet is a Kiwi company which has created a zero waste system to produce reusable cups and bottles – making the environmentally friendlier choice an easier one for event organisers, says Waste Minimisation portfolio lead, Councillor Laurie Foon.

“Sport Wellington is demonstrating to thousands of Wellingtonians that there are solutions to reduce waste and stop the use of single-use items, which will also influence other event organisers, participants and spectators alike,” says Councillor Foon.

“Eliminating waste out of the system is the way of the future so we commend this effort and are right behind other organisations who are leading the way in solutions like this."

The Waste Minimisation Seed Funds grants $100,000 a year to projects, and Sport Wellington’s Round the Bays received $17,993. The under-$2000 Seed Funds grants are currently open until 31 May.

The Brendan Foot Supersite Round the Bays event will be held on Sunday 16 February 2020. Register online at www.wellingtonroundthebays.co.nz. Participants are encouraged to return their Globelet cup on the day by putting them into the 'cup capture bins' situated on Kilbirnie Park so that they can be washed and reused again next year.

For the full list of road closures, parking and transport options, see https://wellingtonroundthebays.co.nz/traffic-transport/

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