Coffee And Tee The Perfect Combination For Greenup

A Danish start-up business is beginning to create a stir when it comes to recyclable golf tees, thanks to an ingenious idea that was born out of the need for sustainability. Imagined by 26-year-old Jakob Nyvold whilst playing golf on a course in Copenhagen, Greenup uses biomaterials that include ground coffee — whose fibers surprisingly share similar strength characteristics to wood — in golf tees in an attempt to accelerate golf’s contribution to a sustainable world.

“To keep the earth spinning, and to keep nature green, we need to make a change,” stressed Nyvold. “Until now, we have been used to seeing broken golf tees made of wood and plastic that cover the golf courses around the world, but what actually happens to all of the golf tees?

“Whilst traditional wood and bamboo tee production results in unsustainable harvesting across the world, the coffee supply chain only contributes about one per cent towards the global climate impact,” explained Nyvold. “And with a staggering 80 per cent of coffee grounds discarded globally each year, spent coffee grounds that decompose in landfill sites or are burnt for energy generates greenhouse gasses if not utilised correctly.”

In an attempt to reuse the coffee grounds that would ordinarily go to waste, Greenup has developed a biodegradable golf tee made of biomaterial and upcycled coffee grounds that is 100 per cent sustainable, and smells good too! Once used, the Greenup tee breaks down leaving behind no harmful residue on tee boxes, and is not only environmentally-friendly, but kind to turf equipment too.

“To date, our Greenup tees are sold in over half the golf clubs in Denmark, and given that we are still in our first year of business, I am incredibly pleased — and proud — of this figure,” said Nyvold. “In fact, the tees have been so successful that we are testing prototypes of pitchforks, ball markers and later this summer, plan to launch a new range of Castle golf tees.”

Photo: Greenup Golf Tees Made From Recycled Coffee Grounds.