Our First Medal - Oakengates 5k - where it all began
Zero Waste Medals are a company that are based in the rural county of Shropshire which is known for its incredible places for running events. The county has a variety of running spaces, from the flats of Telford town park to the undulating and at times unforgiving Wrekin, catering to every type of runner, from Ultra to Park Runners.
There are many great races that happen in Telford, but one that the team at Zero Waste Medals would like to mention is the Oakengates 5k. The whole team took part by running in this event and found it to be a great experience, especially since they had the opportunity to create the race's very first wooden medal! The golden glow of the wooden medal was a sight to behold, and it wasn't just the race's first wooden medal, but one of Zero Waste Medals' firsts too.
Creating the medal was not a simple task, as laser etching the image onto the wood proved to be more complex than expected. Initially, the crest image was low-resolution, so it had to be re-drawn to ensure it was of high quality, and then they had to marry it with nice, bold text. Despite the challenges, the medals were well-received.
Competing in the race showed us that as a team we can complete anything we set our minds to. Some of our team are experienced runners while others had never ran a race before so this was a real achievement. Creating our very first laser engraved medal was also a massive achievement for us and has paved the way for us to create hundreds of thousands of medals of all different designs. We have shown that if at first you don't succeed, try and try again.
Below is a small selection of some other racing medals we have completed.
The team found that stitching the ribbons was actually a health and safety choking hazard, so they opted for a quick-release clasp instead. This was the turning point for Zero Waste Medals to use their reusable plastic clasp. This experience taught us valuable lessons, and we continue to innovate and improve our products.
Zero Waste Medals is dedicated to producing sustainable, environmentally-friendly, and beautiful medals that runners can be proud to wear. Our mission is to eliminate waste from race medals, and we are constantly looking for ways to improve our products and reduce their impact on the environment.
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