Leaving our outdoor playgrounds better than we found them, simple right?

Words by Leigh Rose. Images by Rach Coleman, Leigh Rose, Rich Baybutt & Kristina Vackova

What does it actually mean to ‘be sustainable’? Well, it might come as a surprise to you, but we’re not sustainability experts. We’ll save the Ted Talk and instead dive into our own journey with this term - one that’s helping event organisers helping event organisers reimagine the part they play to protect our outdoor playgrounds. 

You’ve already heard from Rich and Ali on how TFT Approved was born and why we made the decision last year to pause its development. Now it’s time to tell you how we’re continuing. Sustainability isn’t simple; it’s a process that takes care, attention, adaptability and time. We’re not stopping our work on race events; we’re evolving and keeping it simple. TFT Approved is still there for event organisers to use, our focus is just shifting to getting ahead of the problem.

You’ve probably worked out by now, we’re huge on the word ‘purposeful’. When it came round to planning this year we asked ourselves: how can we ensure our event presence is ‘purposeful’? And the answer, initially: “Well, it is, we’re leaving the wild places that host them better than we found them, right?” And it’s true - over the last four years we’ve supported over 70 race organisers to reduce and remove single-use products and pollution from their events. We’re just not sure that’s enough anymore.

Up until 2025, we've rocked up, set up our stand, done some trail cleaning and had some lovely chats with attendees and organisers, packed up and gone home. It's been awesome, but we reckon there's more we can do to leave the places that host these events better than we found them - and it's not just about removing single-use pollution. Our new event presence is centred around education, empowerment and tangible actions spectators, racers and anyone within the sphere of influence of a given event can take home with them. 

Alongside event organisers, our Community Hubs and A-TEAM we’re no longer blowing-in and blowing-out. Beyond the finish field we’re delivering sessions with young people and facilitating local Hardly Reached communities to join in with the events that happen near where they live. Gone are the days you need a ticket or race bib to participate and connect with nature; through this collaboration we’re working hard to ensure the races we attend leave a legacy that lives on through education providers and the local community members we work with. 

At the stand we’re continuing to work hard on staying ahead of the single-use pollution problem. Our freshly designed set up and activations place a heavy focus on how we can make a difference, one person, one trail at a time. Whether through ‘What’s in the Bottle?’, ‘Buck for your bang’ or ‘These Are My Trails’, there’s an activity and conversation for everyone. You can still grab a bag and picker to leave a positive trace too - that’ll never change. Single-use sucks, so we’ve got new merch to inspire small but meaningful action to reduce your reliance on it each day.

Just as TFT Approved can be used by any event organiser, from enduro races to community 5k fun runs, anyone can be a part of the TrashMOB. The question we get asked the most is “I’m just a rider, runner, roamer, what can I do? The answer: plenty:

• Pick up trash as you go -  Simple right? A pocketful, handful, or bin bag full —it all adds up. Every piece of single-use pollution you remove counts. Don’t forget to submit your findings. 

• Be a #NotSoSecretShopper - Ultimately, the success of an event will depend upon all individuals involved and coming together to bring the event to life, which means our DIO (Do It Ourselves) ethos will play a prominent role. Keep your eyes peeled for the steps taken by the organisers; recycling bins, water refill points and no polystyrene food containers are a few examples. Help celebrate these huge wins!

• Become a Citizen Scientist - Help us build the world’s most detailed picture of recreational trail pollution with the Citizen Science Toolkit. No lab coat needed—just your curiosity and your love for the outdoors.

We hope outdoor races can become the stage for more than just fast times and epic tricks, and for how sustainability can be more than just a buzzword. We still aren’t experts, but with the creation and development of TFT Approved we learned heaps - now we’re onto something new. The outcome? Trash Free Races.

See where we're headed on the new webpage now!