Rubberbands T1

Doing my first Ironman 70.3 in a few weeks and while going trough the steps of the transitions I started wondering if the rubberbands that hold your shoes in place in T1, that snap off when you start riding the bike, is considered littering.

Ofcourse it's small but lots of these plastic pieces add up and can't be good for the environment. Are you allowed to use them with risk of snapping of and leaving them behind? Are there other ways to do this maybe?