Spend better, waste less: the circular economy

We know that sustainability sometimes isn’t top of the priority list for sports clubs and community groups.

The day-to-day work of administration, fundraising, welcoming new people, coaching, managing schedules, and washing the kit mean that sometimes pursuing the quickest, simplest option takes precedence over a commitment to sustainability.  

Understanding circular economy, how to waste less and spend better, can help you to be more sustainable and offer your organisation longer-term benefits that can help support the everyday challenges you might face.

What is the circular economy?

In our current ‘linear’ economy, we take things, make things, use them briefly, and then throw them away. This encourages people and organisations to be wasteful.

The circular economy encourages a more thoughtful approach to using resources in ways that are less wasteful and less harmful to the environment. This new way of thinking considers what will happen to something once we’ve finished with it, and before we’ve even bought it. This helps to make sure nothing goes to landfill.

In the circular economy, organisations and individuals can reuse products and recycle them again and again. This reduces the need for raw materials and the amount of waste we produce.

Why do we need to spend better and waste less?

Spending better and wasting less has a positive impact on the planet, the places we live, and the things we do. It....

• Reduces plastic and other waste littering our environment, beaches and rivers – improving the places we’re active in.
• Reduces the resources we need to dig out of the earth.
• Helps wildlife.
• Breaks down some of the financial barriers to physical activity through kit and equipment sharing and reuse.

Read more about biodiversity and physical activity

How can you get involved?

Whether you’re running an organisation, volunteering once a week, or participating in a sport or activity, there’s definitely something you can do to tackle climate change. There are lots of ways you could adopt a circular economy approach; for example:

To spend better, you could:

Buy sustainable sports kit like eco-friendly clothing or equipment made from recyclable materials. Think about products which don’t need replacing too often; look for performance fabrics such as bamboo, charcoal or recycled polyester, as these are kinder to the environment (the Global Organic Textile Standard can help you).

• Buy sustainable seed, wooden or bamboo medals and trophies. Consider products that are biodegradable or compostable such as Tencel or bamboo ribbon; a simple web search will help you find someone who sells these.
• Provide food that is kind to the earth and healthy to eat.
• Consider buying second-hand or renting equipment. Buying high-quality products that often last longer, can be cheaper in the long term. Buying used products reduces the cost, and prevents the waste, energy, and water consumption needed to make new products. 

To waste less, you could: 

• Set up a sports kit donation and collection scheme. Check out Action for Sport’s work, or the Lord's Taverners kit donation scheme, which has a useful checklist.
• Make sure your recycling bins are next to a general waste bin. Twinkl provide some great printable labels to help you make recycling easier.
• Consider repair, reuse and buy-back schemes. A web search using the words ‘sports repair reuse schemes’ will help you find lots of projects you can join, or you can set one up yourself.
• Avoid using plastic packaging and single-use plastics such as water bottles; these often escape into the environment where they cause damage.

Top tips

• Consider if you really need a new product, or if you could part-replace it.
• Check what you’re buying and think about where it will end up when you have finished with it.
• Ask the suppliers you buy things from what they’re doing to help the environment.

More information

Explore our other guidance on environmental sustainability. Or use the following links to find out more about:

• Preventing Plastic Pollution.
• Promoting the re-use, repair and recycling of outdoor gear with the British Mountaineering Council.

HSP is fully committed to a greener sporting future and has a 'Environmental Sustainbility Commitment and Action Plan'. We also have a number of resources on our 'Supporting Sustainable Sport in Hertfordshire' webpage.

For more information contact a.ledbury@herts.ac.uk