It’s back to school and maybe you’ve been spoiled under the Christmas tree, and there are plenty of accessories or clothes to add to your sports business collection. If respecting the environment while remaining at the forefront of equipment is one of your resolutions, solutions exist.
The first important thing will be to discover the Recyclerie Sportive, an association created in 2015 which offers a second life to sports and leisure articles. His missions consist of collect, sort, repair and redistribute sports equipment through solidarity shops.
Other solutions are emerging: sports shops are increasingly offering to collect your old equipment and are setting up second-hand sales areas.
Because sports and leisure articles represent a lot of waste: around 100,000 tonnes per year. Like toys or DIY items, the State, through its anti-waste law of 2020, wishes to recover this waste. The State has set itself the objective of 60,000 tonnes recovered, of which 24,000 would be recycled and 14,500 reused.
We can all borrow, rent, give, barter even repair our sports equipment. Some events come together for the purpose of pooling equipment. This is the example of the EcoTrail in Paris which pools some of these purchases (dishes, green energy generators, etc.) with a music festival: We Love Green.
It is also a political issue. Some regions are already playing the game in the pooling of equipment to help the various clubs to equip themselves and avoid them buying new equipment. VSertain federations are also taking their part.
In my training center, we have set up a bin where everyone can donate their equipment. The federation then takes care of dispatching the jackets and sabers of the various world champions to the clubs. Two young licensees supported by the French fencing federation have created an escrime- occasion.com site which allows you to equip yourself at a lower cost, while respecting the planet.
But if really buying something new is stronger than anything, Décathlon now displays the environmental rating and carbon footprint on more than 60% of its products, in order to better guide future purchases …