Game, set and match

WIMBLEDON LAUNCHES COLLECTION MADE FROM PLASTIC BOTTLES

The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) has launched a range of eco-friendly sports-wear, including some items made almost entirely out of recycled plastic bottles. The sustainable capsule collection, which boasts more than 100 items, including polo shirts, skirts, silk ties and the famous Wimbledon Championships towels, also features sports-wear in matching white and blue, instead of their signature purple and green, to highlight this change of tack.

From next year, 99% of the fabric used in the entire performance wear collection will be recycled and each individual piece of performance wear will contain the equivalent of up to 20 plastic bottles. A signatory to the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework, this clothing range is intended to promote "the entire ethos of Wimbledon" and is just one of their new initiatives in support of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

Even this years Ball Boy/Girl uniforms by Ralph Lauren, the Official Outfitter of the Championships, feature UPF 40 (protection from UV rays) and are crafted from lightweight jersey made with yarn derived from recycled plastic bottles. Wimbledon also aims to reduce emissions from all of their operations to 'net zero', build a resource-efficient organisation and contribute to a net-gain in biodiversity by 2030 as well as use their influence to inspire wider action. Some of their initiatives include generating electricity on site, increasing more living walls (like the one currently on Centre Court), harvesting acorns from veteran oak trees on their estate and emphasizing the importance of the environment, climate change and sustainability by incorporating it into the teaching programs that the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum and the Wimbledon Foundation deliver to UK and international schoolchildren.

"We believe that the All England Club and The Championships, along with other major sporting bodies and events, have a meaningful role to play in helping to protect the environment, today and for the future," say the AELTC. "Changes to our climate are accelerating and we have a responsibility to play our part, mitigating our own impacts, ensuring we have a climate resilient estate for the future and using our influence to support this important cause."

At the time of going to press, pieces from the collection seem to be dispersed all over their site but you can see a few pieces of traditional activewear Here.