Decathlon Philippines Steps Up the Game in Saving the Planet

The planet needs saving. Not convincing enough? Here’s what you might not know about. Approximately, it will take 450 years for a plastic to degrade or breakdown. Yearly, 8 million metric tons of these plastics enter the ocean. Imagine this: Titanic weighs about 47,454.834 metric tons. Imagine how many Titanics would those waste amount to? As a result, about 1000 million marine creatures die because they either get entangled to it or they ingest it. Why should we, Filipinos, be bothered? Well, in the past years, Philippines is considered to be among the world’s largest plastic waste contributor with about 14.66 million tons of plastic that it generates each year. These numbers don’t lie and they continue to grow every year. With that, the world needs more who care enough to step up their game in saving the planet. Decathlon Philippines is one.

About Decathlon Philippines

Decathlon is a French retailer of all things sports that came into the Philippines in 2017. It’s truly a wander land for sports and travel enthusiasts as they offer affordable yet quality products. Though it revolves around People, Product and Profit as a business, another P could add up to these. Planet. It is a business that has a heart for the planet as they take steps to contribute to saving it! Here’s how they’re doing it.

You may also want to read: Simple Ways to Achieve Sustainability

The Decathlon Tote Bag

If you are to shop in any of their physical stores for the first time, you’ll get your purchased items in a white and blue reusable eco-bag. Make sure that you’ll bring it the next time you shop, though. They are only giving it once for free. If you decide to have another one or just in case you forget to bring it, you have to purchase another one.

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In this way, you won’t have to accumulate shopping bags that you’d either stack or throw away. Less trash!

Skipping the Box

If you’d notice, their footwears and most of their items don’t come in boxes when sold. Some even has its own built-in pouches where the item can be systematically packed.

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The Delivery Package

Shopping with Decathlon Philippines is more convenient especially for those who live far from their physical stores with its official website. Unlike most online shops, it never sets sustainability aside especially when it comes to its packaging. The items usually go in three types of packaging: an old box, paper wrap or the cassava bag.

Unbox from a Not-so-Old Box

Instead of using new boxes every now and then, some of your ordered items are delivered in used boxes yet in good condition.

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The Paper Wrap

While popping bubble wraps after unpacking an item that you just bought brings joy, its consequence doesn’t. It’s but a single-use plastic that eventually ends up to the trash or worse, the ocean. Instead of resorting to packaging their products for delivery in such wrappers, Decathlon Philippines use the paper wrap. It is made of papers that provides cushioning to prevent physical damage to the customers’ orders.

Cassava Pouches

Fret not! Though they may appear as just another single-use plastic to you, these cassava pouches are actually biodegradable. They are organically made from cassava making it nature-friendly and safe to be consumed by microorganisms!

You may also want to read: Towards Sustainability: Be Eco-Friendly with Style!

The Second Life Shelf

One of the perks of being a member of Decathlon Philippines is having a chance to test the products before buying it. However, they separate these items from the ones displayed as they would lend it again shall someone decides to test the same item.

Recently, the management set up this so called ‘Second Life Shelf’ in all the Decathlon stores in the Philippines. The shelf contains the tested, returned or new products with defects at a discounted price. In this way, they are reducing the production at some point; at the same time, not letting these products go to waste.

The PLAF-Decathlon Partnership

If you live around the metro and got bags of solid wastes including cans, bottles, papers especially plastics and you think of disposing them, think twice. Decathlon Philippines has bins in their physical stores where you can drop these recyclable trash. Through doing it, you’re actually helping in saving the ocean at the same time participate into realizing a far greater vision on sustainability.

The plastics that they were able to collect goes to the PLAF or Plastic Flamingo. It is a Manila-based social company that transforms the plastic wastes into plastic lumbers! You read it right. They extrude these lumbers out of those plastic wastes to repurpose and make a good use of it instead of letting them end up to the ocean.

Parting Words

Some might not realize how bad its impacts are as they are not directly affected by it. But, would we wait until that day that it is too late enough to take actions? Irresponsibility isn’t solely the problem in here. Lack of awareness is, too! So, spread the word and start or participate into an act that would save the ocean and the planet. Start within you and influence the people around you, too.