DEAR CUSTOMER SERVICES

Dear Sustainability Adidas Group,

Rio was a great Olympics to watch and the performance of Team GB truly inspiring.

I have just purchased an Adidas Team GB Golf Climachill polo shirt to celebrate Justin Rose gold medal, from the label I can see it is made from 100% polyester fabric.

Can you please advise when I wash this polyester polo shirt will it shed any microfibre 'plastic' particles? I have read in the media that these microfibres contribute towards plastic ocean pollution and can even enter human food chain.

As a slightly concerned customer who loves eating seafood. Are Adidas working on any technology to prevent this from happening in the near future?

I look forward to your reply.

Kind regards,

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

THREE STEPS TO HEAVEN

Three easy ways to encourage younger people to play golf;

1. Let them wear what they like.

2. Use their mobiles / ipads on the course for selfies and tweets etc

3. Allow alcohol and spliffs on the course.

"more weed less weedkiller" - Golf Refugees
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

FESS UP

Now that Nike Golf and Adidas Golf are just going to concentrate on apparel, here are some facts they sometimes forget to tell their customers;

Polyester is a plastic and when you wash polyester based apparel it sheds microfibre plastic particles which pollute our oceans.

One million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals are killed annually from plastic in our oceans.

Virtually every piece of plastic (including the first polyester sport shirt) that was ever made still exists in some shape or form.

It takes 500-1,000 years for plastic to degrade.

Plastic chemicals can be absorbed by the body.

Some of these chemicals found in plastic have been found to alter hormones in humans.

You may ask why Nike, Adidas and many others prefer to use polyester?

Polyester is the least expensive fibre to manufacture.

What does all this mean for you?

Your next polyester sport shirt will last between 500 -1,000 years.

Some of the chemicals used to make your plastic sport shirt (which apparel brands hide from you) can be absorbed through your skin and potentially alter your hormone levels.

Each time you wash your polyester sport shirt it will shed microfibre particles which contribute to plastic ocean pollution and kill sea birds and marine mammals.

If you enjoy eating fish and other sea food, microplastic particles from your own polyester sport shirts can end up on your plate.

Enjoy.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

PULL OUT

A few months ago Adidas announced it was pulling out of the golf equipment business to focus solely on apparel and footwear. And now Nike have pulled the plug on golf balls, bags and clubs too.

The business model and huge profit margins on making plastic 'polyester' apparel with ultra low wages in countries with little or no environmental regulations is hard to beat. Especially when you think consumers have little or no idea they are buying a plastic shirt that will last for several hundred years, shed microplastic particles each time they are washed, polluting the oceans and even entering our food chain. Do we really think its a good idea for aquatic life to feed on plastic? Then we need to stop laundering our plastic polyester shirts until Adidas and Nike spend some of their enormous profits on a finding a solution.

Unsustainable and totally irresponsible business practice.

Golf is very conservative. Equipment rules have failed to restrain the pros and at the same time ignore the vast majority of players. You can't have the same equipment rules for professional players and recreational golfers, who have limited time to play and practice, and who need the latest technology to maximise their enjoyment of the game.
There has been a stagnation is 'real' improvements in golf equipment for past 25 years. Over the past ten years consumers have finally realised the claims of an extra few yards from the latest driver launch is just marketing spin.

With two of the biggest brands in sport pulling out of golf equipment, even the governing bodies of golf should realise they need to do something. They should immediately announce an 'unrestricted' category for golf equipment, preferably based upon using recycled and biodegradable materials. Encourage the engineers to dream again and persuade Adidas and Nike their is a bright future for golf equipment.
‪#‎golfrefugees‬ #golfequipment
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

INSIDE THE ROPES

Combine British wit, an astute eye for design and an unyielding dedication to sustainable golf and what do you get? You get Peter Gorse, the outspoken founder of "Golf Refugees".

Peter spent last week at the Ricoh British Open and wrote the following dispatch from the media center at Woburn Golf Club, especially for us.

Golf Media Mannerisms
On arrival you receive a gift. Only the British would consider giving an umbrella for a major sporting event in mid-summer. Each journo is allocated a desk facing a manually updated scoreboard, fortunately the door between the food hall is left ajar and the waft of the cooking keeps you on your toes.

There’s an itinerary of set media events, from press conferences with leading players, to a Championship photo call with the imaginative theme of a traditional English tea party. I didn’t want to be a party pooper, but as an Englishmen it was all new to me. Obviously they’ve never seen The Royle Family TV show by the late great Caroline Ahern

You can never guarantee sunshine in the UK, hence the modestly warm and dry start to the week was a golden opportunity to be out and about in the field, taking pictures of the world’s best female golfers. With a media pass you’re allowed inside the ropes to capture the best possible images. And here I came across my first issue with the Ladies European Tour police. It’s never a easy situation for a bloke to be told ‘you’re not big enough’.  In spite of all the correct paperwork my camera lens just wasn’t up to scratch in the ‘length’ department. To appease officialdoms, I simply stated, "size isn’t everything, it’s what you do with that counts". Alas, this didn’t wash, especially when other seasoned media bods were carrying around their massive male egos. My next line of defence was to quote from the late great photographer, Jane Brown, whose attitude was a stark contrast to her mostly male peers. Jane was supremely uninterested in camera equipment. She bought all of her cameras secondhand, and preferred working with a single lens setting, conspiring to make the environment fit the setting. All this fell on deaf ears and I was forced to seek a bigger lens. Pressing Pressers

My first press conference was with world number one Lydia Ko. Riveting snippets of information, from a preference to play a maximum of three tournaments in a row and liking nine plus hours of sleep a night, to seeking the best local eateries from resident Woburn tour pro... and Ryder hero... Ian Poulter.

Then my moment arrived! As the microphone passed into my hands, I ventured,  “Does golf require a new format with fewer holes and clubs to encourage younger participation?”

I must admit I was a little surprised with Lydia’s reply, though perhaps I could have phrased my question better and expanded upon the recent announcement from the European Tour to pilot a new shorter, faster format.

Ko responded. “I don’t believe golf needs to change" adding that she loves the traditions of the game and feels there are enough formats in golf already. OK. On Women's Golf Fashion
Anyway, onto more interesting topics; women’s golf fashion. I’ve always wanted to find out just how much apparel company-sponsored pro golfers know about the clothes they wear and promote.

At the back of the 18th green, after the first round, I managed to catch up with USA star Lexi Thompson, who is charming and captivating. I began with, "as one of the most fashionable players on tour", she smiled.

"How much input do you have with the golf clothes you wear?"

Lexi responded, “a lot of input, I specify the materials I like and which I don’t like”

"What is your favourite material?"

“Ones that feel silky and elastic” and with a big smile, Lexi pulled down on her shirt to see how far it could stretch.

You could deduce that she doesn’t really know the technical names of the materials used in modern sportswear. She simply goes on how the clothes feel to her, which is understandable as Lexi’s priority is to win golf tournaments. Lexi could always look to see what’s written on her shirt label. The Course, Of Course
One of the main talking points between fathers and club members was the set up of the Marquess Course, conspired by the Ladies Golf Union. Now local hero Charley Hull, sponsored by Ricoh, is the cover girl for the tournament. Charley has been playing around Woburn since the age of eleven from the back white tees. For some unknown reason the LGU have decided to play the British Open from the forward tees and reduce the overall yardage to a tame 6,400 yards. Some expressed their concern that this would lead to a winning score of 20 under par and result in a putting competition.

And The Winner Is ………………………………

Ariya Jutanugarn who can hit a 2-iron 240 yards, wins again... and without carrying a driver in her bag all week.

On the final day of the British Women’s Open from Woburn it is time to reflect on what has been an incredible well organised event. I just hope the mountain of coffee cups and lids from the media centre can be reused or recycled, otherwise its dial ‘G’ for Greenpeace. ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo