It sure ain't easy to make sustainable medals that don't look, and feel, like sugar-honey-iced-tea. We've used wood in the past, but they just felt so... eh. And what's a medal for, really? It represents an achievement, a struggle. A well-earned memoir of a bloody difficult ten miles.

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So it's got to feel special. Hence, most medals are cast from metals. Thing is, metal casting and production is not-so-hot for the planet. So our specification was this, find a sustainable way of making medals that feel a little heavier than wood, and that require minimal machining to produce.

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After more googling than any human should engage in, we found a material that could work. Recycled paper, or 'Richlite™'. From there, it was up to us to create a design, and up to our pals at Shape Studio to do the laser engraving and finishing. We've sourced ribbons made from recycled plastic bottles, produced with recycled water and solar powered energy. These are medals that look and feel super, with minimal cost to the environment.