How “green” is that oval little sticker on your car that reads “26.2″ in bold, black type? And while we’re on the subject, how environmentally friendly was that marathon you ran a few months back, the one that prompted you to buy the “26.2″ sticker in the first place?
Many of us don’t even think twice about the carbon footprint that a local footrace such as a marathon may have. But whether we’re aware of it or not, pretty much everything we do takes a toll on the environment. So, what should we do? Sit in our energy-efficient homes, eating only homegrown food, composting our lives away? Hell no.
What we can do is carry on with our daily actions in an attempt to do as little damage to the environment as possible. Or, even better, we can do things to actually counteract the damage that we inevitably make as we lead normal lives. These are exactly the kinds of things that many race coordinators around the country are doing to make their running events more environmentally compatible.
Runner’s World magazine recently released a list of the 10 Greenest Races in the country, and to our excitement, the Portland and Eugene Marathons were recognized as being two of the nation’s most eco-friendly running events. So, how did they do it?
For one, the Portland Marathon has been awarding all finishers a tree seedling since 1993, meaning that thousands of trees have inevitably been planted over the past 16 years. This alone has aided in offsetting the negative CO2 emissions caused by runners’ travel (cars, planes, buses), and even their gear (synthetic fiber, cotton shirts and socks harvested with massive amounts of pesticides). In addition, a portion of the finish-line food is certified organic, the start/finish area is powered by solar panels, and many of the materials used, such as chip removers, paper, and even scaffolding, is recycled or comes from surplus.
Like Portland, the Eugene Marathon also utilizes solar energy to power the event, including the finish line and vendor section. In addition, Eugene recruits volunteers to sort through garbage for recyclable items. These “master recyclers” end up collecting, on average, 70 percent of race-day waste for recycling, which means 70 percent less reusable material sitting in landfills. The first 9 miles of the course are paced with a hybrid vehicle, and bikers pace the last 16, which makes for minimal CO2 emissions during the race.
[Photo: eurospotter, Flickr]
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