Throw Your Gear In My Banner

It isn't often that I find myself impressed by a professional hockey team, but Czechia's TipSport Extraliga has a team doing something this season that's pretty cool when it comes to recycling. The key in this story isn't that they're just helping the environment, but they're also offering fans a chance to own a unique piece of merchandise that may never been produced with the same design again. Frankly, if HC Sparta Prague can make this work, they deserve a pile of kudos for not adding to landfills while having their fans sport some of the coolest merchandise I've seen in a while from any team or league!

Teams all over the world use vinyl banners for advertising everything from upcoming games to significant events at an arena, but once those dates have passed the vinyl banners are rendered useless. Teams and arenas take them down and they either go into storage or are discarded, and that latter can be a significant problem for landfills since the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) used to make banners lasts forever and has the potential to release further harmful substances as the vinyl decays. In short, they're terrible for the environment.

I am impressed, however, by Sparta Prague's new merchandise!

If you caught the visuals, the banner in front which the young lady was standing became the bag she carried on her shoulder! HC Sparta Prague is now using their vinyl banner advertising to make unique and one-of-a-kind bags that will be sold by the team! How cool is that?

According to their release about the new initiative, Sparta Prague is working to ensure they do their part of the environment. According to David Dinda, Marketing Director of HC Sparta Prague, "we ensured that 32 kilograms of plastic waste did not end up in a landfill" which is a fantastic effort by the club to go greener while offering a cool, new product to their fans. And being that the vinyl banner is both waterproof and UV resistant, that would mean the bags would be too!

Sparta Prague appears to be spearheading this upcycling idea as a blueprint for other clubs to follow, stating in its release that they "support the planet and want to be an inspiration for other sports organizations" while adding, "We don't want this to be a one-off activity. On the contrary, we plan to continue this approach in the long term and expand the concept with other sustainable products."

I did a quick check of their online store, and there isn't anything to find there for these bags just yet. I am curious of the process they're using to turn the banners into bags because I think there's huge potential to do this all sorts of events, not just sporting events. Either way, though, I still think this is a fantastic idea to give those vinyl banners new life after they've filled their purpose!

Big kudos to HC Sparta Prague. They may not wear green as an official colour, but they are working to ensure the world around them stays green for years to come. And that's an initiative I fully support!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!