At last week’s DP World Tour Scandinavian Mixed Open there was a surprising amount of plastic waste on show – all courtesy of OCEANTEE.
The sustainable golf brand has been working with the DP World Tour to create and manufacture sustainable alternatives to products traditionally made from virgin plastics or polyesters – the perfect example of which was the pin flags being used at the event at Ullna G&CC, Stockholm, all of which were made from upcycled ocean plastic!
The waste was collected by the Seaqual Initiative. As part of their work, marine litter is collected from the ocean floor, beaches and ocean-bound rivers and estuaries. The marine litter is then sorted into different material types. The plastic portion is cleaned and transformed into Seaqual Marine Plastic, before being extruded into Seaqual Yarn. This can then be used to create high quality products, like pin flags and caddie bibs which have been in use on the Challenge Tour this year.
OCEANTEE founder Ed Sandison said: “There is hidden plastic used all around us, so any small change we make – like replacing polyester pin flags or caddie bibs – with viable non-plastic alternatives is going to make a huge difference to the overall impact that a tournament makes.”
The event coincided with World Ocean Day and World Environment Day, both of which have a focus on plastic pollution. As part of OCEANTEE’s commitment to raising awareness of the issues facing our oceans Ed was also one of the speakers appearing across the weekend, providing valuable education on the significance of Blue Carbon in reducing the impact of climate change.
“Blue carbon is the ocean’s equivalent to forests on land. It’s an incredibly important concept because, as the evidence increasingly suggests, the oceans can sequester (absorb and store) more carbon than equivalent areas of terrestrial forest” explained Ed. “Protecting and rewilding marine ecosystems should be a priority, as it has the potential to dramatically increase the amount of carbon taken out of our atmosphere. These ocean carbon sinks could help stabilise our planet and secure a better future for us all.”
OCEANTEE pin flags and caddie bibs are now available to order direct from OCEANTEE and can be customised for one-off events, for golf clubs or individual tournaments. Email sophie@oceanteegolf.com for more information.