North Carolina based, Unifi joins the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) as an official partner of UNC Athletics. 

With a goal of driving awareness and education about the importance of recycling among students, faculty, fans and alumni, UNC Athletics becomes the first collegiate athletics programme to join Repreve’s #TurnItGreen movement.

Repreve is made from recycled materials, including plastic bottles. The initiative will branch across UNC Athletics with Repreve based activations at major sporting events.

Repreve t-shirts

Repreve is a leading recycled fibre brand that is used in many popular brands including Ford, Haggar, Polartec, Quiksilver and Patagonia.

On 3 December this year Repreve will kick off its efforts with UNC at the men’s basketball game at the Dean E. Smith Center green. During this initial event, more than 45,000 plastic bottles will be recycled into Repreve based items.

The game is one of the highlights of this year’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge, and UNC will face off against Iowa at 7:30 pm EST on ESPN.

More than 22,000 lime green Repreve based #TurnItGreen t-shirts with a Carolina Blue NC on the front will be distributed to each attending fan. UNC cheerleaders, band members and the Tar Heel mascot, Rameses, will also Turn It Green by wearing the Repreve t-shirts.

Sustainability efforts

“Carolina Athletics is committed to increasing recycling awareness and sustainability efforts amongst our students, alumni and fans across the nation,” said Bubba Cunningham, Director of Athletics at UNC.

“This partnership will further integrate sustainability into the campus environment, and we’re excited to have the support of a brand that is encouraging our students to make decisions that benefit not only themselves, but future generations as well.”

Take the Smart Shot challenge

In addition to the #TurnItGreen basketball game, Repreve will offer fans a chance to win a variety of prizes made from Repreve during a Take the Smart Shot challenge, encouraging everyone to throw their plastic bottles into the recycling bin instead of the trash can.

The Take the Smart Shot challenge will extend into a campus wide recycling competition among students that will lead into the 2015 UNC graduation ceremony, where graduating students will wear gowns made with Repreve, using approximately 27 recycled plastic bottles for each.

“Working with Repreve gives us the opportunity to show how green our students and fan base can be, and I’m confident they will rise to the challenge,” said Roy Williams, head men’s basketball coach at UNC. “Recycling really does make a significant impact, and we want everyone to take what they learn in the stands and put it into action, so that the entire campus community will recycle even more than we do currently.”

www.repreve.com