T-shirts made from last year's plastic water bottles are for sale at the WM Phoenix Open
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - The merchandise tent at the WM Phoenix Open is bigger than it's ever been as every well-known golf brand is selling something.
This year, there are a few unique products that are made from trash. Specifically, plastic water bottles.
"Peter Millar merchandise is well-known in the golf world," said Stu Redsun, vice president of brand and marketing for Waste Management. "They're really the leader in high-performance style."
You can see from the racks of shirts, the brand is well-represented at the WM Phoenix Open. And when you look at the signage, you'll see that some of the shirts have a unique story to tell.
Shirts made with recycled plastic water bottles from last year's People's Open are being sold this year.
"Our mission is we're always working for a sustainable tomorrow. Our goal really is to be that company that helps others be more sustainable," Redsun said.
The team that puts on the largest zero-waste event in the world had an idea to create something with the thousands of water bottles that are recycled at the golf tournament.
"This absolutely is such an exciting collaboration for us," Meredith Boyd of Repreve said. "Repreve is the world's leading synthetic yarn. We rely on waste such as that from bottles at the WM Phoenix Open in order to turn that into yarn and resin that can go into many different products."
The plastic is turned into polyester fiber that is used to make the T-shirts.
Everyone involved says giving plastic a new purpose has been a hole-in-one.
"It makes me feel good because it's made with bottles of water that I probably drank here last year," Redsun said.
There are a few polo shirts and one long-sleeved shirt. If you want to buy one, they're located near the front door of the large merchandise tent.