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Green Runners | Ellie Wardell & Darren Evans
320 Plays1 year ago
Welcome to the UKRunChat podcast where Michelle is joined by Green Runners team member and sustainable events expert Ellie Wardell, and Race Director and green runner, Darren Evans.
In this episode, we discuss innovative ideas and expert insights on how races can run towards a greener and more sustainable future, and give you some resources to work towards becoming more sustainable.
Follow Green runners on:
Web . https://thegreenrunners.com/
Ellie's Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/_treadinglightly_/
Free ReScore app for race directors https://www.councilforresponsiblesport.org/rescore
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Green Runners
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to the UK Run Chat podcast. I'm Joe Williams and in this episode, Michelle is joined by Green Runners Ellie Wardle and Darren Evans.
00:00:09
Speaker
We all love the thrill of a race, the sense of accomplishment that comes with crossing that finish line. The Green Runners are asking us to just stop for a moment and think about the environmental impact of these events and the sport that we all love. Michelle, Ellie and Darren discuss how races can run towards a greener and more sustainable future and also give you some resources to work towards becoming more sustainable as well.
00:00:34
Speaker
Enjoy this chat. See you on the next episode. Thanks so much for joining us on the UK Run chat podcast today. Would you both like to introduce yourselves to our listeners? Yeah, sure. Hi, I'm Ellie. I'm a member of the Green Runners and also a sustainability consultant for the sports events industry. So yeah, it's great to be here. And yeah, I'm Darren. I'm one of the co-founders of the Green Runners. I kind of write about climate change and running.
00:01:03
Speaker
And I'm also the founder of Perops. Yeah, brilliant.
Green Runners Mission and Actions Post-COP26
00:01:07
Speaker
So tell us a little bit more about the Green Runners then and its mission in promoting sustainability within the running industry. Ellie, do you want to show a little bit of answer? So the Green Runners were a global community. They're formed after COP26 and we have a shared vision of running without the footprint. At present, we have around 1,000 members across the world that were growing by the day and expanding our global reach.
00:01:33
Speaker
And we focus on four pillars, which is how we move, primarily how we travel, such as to our clubs, to our meetups, to events, how we eat, have a planet-focused diet, so, you know, reducing meat and dairy consumption, and also with our sports nutrition, how we kit up, so emphasizing, you know, using what we have to the end of its life, reducing what we do buy and
00:02:02
Speaker
opting for thrifting and secondhand purchases in most instances. And we can't do any of this without our fourth pillar, which is how we speak out. So that's probably the most important one.
00:02:17
Speaker
Yeah, which is I guess what we're helping with today, really, into how people can do that. I mean, you mentioned all those pillars and you think, wow, actually, I feel a bit overwhelmed because there's so much that we need to change and think about, isn't there? Yeah, it's easy to feel overwhelmed, especially like we've all been there. Like I remember at the start of my sustainability journey, I found I had terrible ego anxiety, like
00:02:42
Speaker
everything was overwhelming, a plastic bag, a coffee, you know, having a coffee cup, everything I did, I was kind of like questioning. So what we actually do at the Green Runners is we just encourage people to pledge, make one pledge for each of our four pillars. So you don't have to do everything perfectly. And in that sense, you just pick a few things that you within your realm that you know, you can work on. So for one person,
00:03:08
Speaker
might be go meat free one day a week for how you eat, for how you get up it might be I'm going to only buy two pairs of shoes this year instead of 10. So you know just making those changes and we know they'll be different for everyone depending on their circumstances as well. Yeah there are small things that people can do differently aren't there I guess. Yeah everyone's
00:03:34
Speaker
this thing called 50 shades of green so it's a really good way of kind of measuring where you are on the scale so you don't have to be a massive activism you know activists doing loads of stuff you can choose to light a shade of green and then as you get more confident you could maybe go a bit greener but it's
00:04:02
Speaker
on their different journey.
Expert Team and Industry Challenges
00:04:04
Speaker
And that's what's good about the Green Runners is some of the co-founders, you know, we have carbon engineers, we have, so basically we have runners that care about the climate, but we've also got sort of carbon engineers and climate scientists that like to run. So there's a real good mix of people and there's a real good mix of knowledge within the co-founding group of the Green Runners. So that really helps me who
00:04:29
Speaker
doesn't really know a lot about climate change, that I can then talk to those individuals if I've got any questions. And so can any one of the community who have those sort of questions, we have a resources page where they can go and have a look at. Yeah, that's good to hear, actually. So we don't need to feel overwhelmed. So we're going to focus on events today, which is in itself such a large area, isn't it?
00:04:58
Speaker
So Ellie, you work in this area. What would you say are the most pressing challenges that the race industry is facing at the moment? Well, when I looked at this question, I think you can interpret it two ways. You could think about in terms of how climate change influences running, so how it influences races. And as we know, the droughts, floods, wildfires, heat waves have all
00:05:23
Speaker
seen cancellation postponing of vases, runners suffering and you know it's been scientifically found that as the temperature increases so does your marathon waste time. Yeah that's a good point. You can also think of it as how the industry influences climate change and because I work a lot behind the scenes kind of doing carbon reporting data collection of vases so I can see the emissions from each
00:05:53
Speaker
facet of an event. So the participant travel here can be enormous, especially for the major marathons. It's up to 98% of a mass sport event's carbon footprint is just from how people get there. So kind of, you know, fits into the spectrum of how even with all the bottles and the waste and the merchandise, travel is just enormous. And that's often from long haul travel.
00:06:20
Speaker
So that's a massive challenge for the running industry because it's also scope free. So it means it's beyond the race organizers control, but you can't ban people. You can't prescribe how they move, how they travel there. So yeah, I would say that's a big challenge and also a lot of what the race organizers do is dependent upon rules, legislations, and what's actually accessible. So in an ideal world, we'd all have compostable
00:06:50
Speaker
bottles and cups and such, but in realistically that's our systems can't cater for that. So you could have a compostable cup and the localist, you know, the most local composting facility could be 200 miles away, which totally defeats the point. Yeah. Yeah. So there's a lot of challenges and different aspects, but I think it all still comes around to the communication awareness speaking out pillar because you can't change what you don't know.
00:07:17
Speaker
Yeah. So how do we make changes there?
Promoting Eco-friendly Travel and Race Practices
00:07:20
Speaker
I mean, I know some of the races I've done in the UK, they have promoted car sharing, for example. And I know I've seen some athletes on social media who are travelling abroad for lots of races talking about getting the train rather than the plane. Is it as simple as that, that we just need to be more conscious of how we're travelling? I think it's conscious, it's also understanding.
00:07:46
Speaker
that as well, because if you look at kind of the feedback surveys, and participants will, because not, you know, no one really knows until we get into this industry, that they see the plastic bottles and the waste as kind of the biggest concern. Yeah. So it's until we kind of shift that narrative to kind of focus on the biggie, which is the travel, and then we could help encourage people in a light, a gentle way, I
00:08:16
Speaker
and with incentives about how they can make more conscious decisions about their race calendar and how they're travelling to inform these events. So in terms of what the race organisers can do, I always encourage them to have a kind of transport page, like detailing all the different options to get there and making this really seamless and kind of clear cut and accessible.
00:08:44
Speaker
So it makes it really easy for people to plan their journeys in advance. And, you know, having this as kind of a active travel hierarchy. So you have at the top of the page, you have, you know, the least carbon intensive option, walking, cycling, and what bases can do to encourage this with bike ballets.
00:09:04
Speaker
trips, kind of organised cycles, and then all the way down. So ideally, flights should be at the bottom of the list, you need to scroll. Yeah, make it hard to work for people to find out how to do that. Yeah, it's like, I think about the supermarket, isn't it? What you can buy level versus the shelves up in the below. And five, in terms of travel, five easy wins would be encourage low, lower carbon participant travel. So car sharing, EV charging points, bike storage, bike tours,
00:09:34
Speaker
dedicated shuttle buses. And you can also partner with local travel providers. And you can then have kind of travel packages, so kind of include these travel ticket shuttle buses in your registration fees. So it's really, it's marvellous and it's an add-on, you can have a kind of integral to how someone signs up. Obviously keeping it local, so
00:09:59
Speaker
prioritising your local suppliers, vendors, volunteers, and also you can incentivise and encourage participation from local community run clubs. So this will reduce kind of the scope one or two travel from the staff and volunteers and also just minimise the travel aspect of the event.
00:10:19
Speaker
And yeah, back to that, how we speak out if you promote and provide the shared travel options on your website and make this really clear and easy for everyone to access. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yes. And I think the only thing I'd add onto that is race directors making start times in line with
00:10:43
Speaker
public transport. And ideally, when they're planning a route as near to a train station as possible, which is, that will make it easier for the runner or the individual then to choose that option of train or public transport if they're not under pressure to get there for an early, early start. And also, if it is near to a train station, then that makes it more accessible for the runners
00:11:20
Speaker
So that for me is really important as a race director. Yeah, that's a really good point, actually. It's you want to know you can get there within good time, don't you, and be relaxed and not be stressing about it. And quite often, as you say, if it's an early start, the only option is to drive, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's a really, really good point. So, Ellie, you mentioned just partnering with kind of local travel options there. What else can we do locally? I mean, I guess that's a big, that's a big thing, isn't it, in terms of
00:11:50
Speaker
just being more sustainable is partnering up with local organisations. How can that help? So in terms of partnering with local, this has kind of multiple benefits. First and foremost, it's about, so it's really important for directors to consider when planning an event is how this short term event can have a leave a long lasting impact on the local community.
00:12:18
Speaker
In the event industry, we call this the event legacy or community legacy, which is essentially the long term effects. And in this case, environmental events can aim to create both before, during and after. So obviously, some renowned examples of this is like the Commonwealth and the Olympic Games, where they've supported local community before, during and after, such as through supporting local businesses, local infrastructure, the redevelopment of the
00:12:46
Speaker
area outside the Olympic Park and also through carbon literacy training in sport. But also, you know, this is the impact they can leave and the way they can support will vary depending on the location, their capacity, their budget, and also obviously what's in the local area. So with smaller event organizers, they can do things like investing in or donating to a local conservation project,
00:13:17
Speaker
They could organise team volunteer days to support the environmental work in the areas that they host their events in, and also working with local suppliers and businesses, which will have multiple snowball effects on the local community as well. Yeah, that's going to only have a positive impact really, isn't it? If you're buying local, investing in local businesses, yeah.
00:13:47
Speaker
We've talked about the biggie, which is travel, which is surprising, actually, because when we think about event sustainability, we do seem to think about plastic bottles and medals and t-shirts. They come up a lot. So let's just delve into those a little bit and just talk about, you know, let's start with the medals and the goodie bags.
Innovative Race Medals and Goodie Bags
00:14:07
Speaker
I mean, how can we how can we be more sustainable there? I mean, do we need them, first of all? Because some people do really like a medal, don't they?
00:14:17
Speaker
and others are kind of, well, I'm not that bothered. So how do we satisfy the needs of everybody here? Well, again, as it comes to every kind of procurement decision, or whenever you, a event director wants to buy anything, consider this, it's called a sustainable hierarchy, which goes in the order of rethink, reduce, reuse, recycle, recover. So rethink, so
00:14:46
Speaker
kind of when you're in that planning stage think do we as in the race directors and the runners really need or want goody bags and medals and you could kind of gauge the response to this through a survey or just trial and error like trying different things out swapping wooden medals in or coasters or a total medal alternative which a lot of kind of the smaller scale events have tried and when it comes to reduce for
00:15:16
Speaker
a big problem is obviously the surplus of goodies, medals and t-shirts, which often are dated, branded and can't be reused. And so if race directors can try and order less to avoid surplus and, you know, as in custom orders as well. So, you know, the exact number of t-shirts or medals that you're going to give out. And obviously,
00:15:44
Speaker
as we all know, the good guys at Trees Not Tees now offer opt-out options for t-shirts and medals. And so this is, especially for runners who race regularly, it's a really good option for them when they don't want another t-shirt or medal funged in their drawer. Yeah. And then for when, obviously, none of us are ever going to say never get a t-shirt, never get a medal because
00:16:14
Speaker
think about like London marathon, I believe has really high percentage or first time marathoners and it could be their only marathon. So obviously a t-shirt and medals really meaningful to them. And for any kind of big achievement, your first 100 miler, your first 50 miler, it's just the problem comes in when it's, you know, when people race regularly and it becomes a bit questionable if they need two medals every week to add.
00:16:41
Speaker
Um, so yeah, sustainable alternatives to medals would be recycled, upcycled. You can get digital or adding to the benefits of local community. You could partner with your local woodmaker or craftsmaker and have locally made and customized medals. These could be wooden, these could be slates, these could be coasters or from, you know, local raw materials. And yeah, you can even have alternatives to medals. So I think in the,
00:17:12
Speaker
Twitter feed we had, people were giving out really good ideas, such as, I like the, obviously I like the coffee and cake idea. Coasters, food from local businesses, and kind of what we call like kind of really useful practical items that you can reuse again and again. I'm not sure there's too much you can do with a medal again and again, but if people have got ideas. We've been giving out quite a lot of medals to our running club.
00:17:41
Speaker
Yeah, they feel kind of doing well. Yeah, I've seen people donate quite nicely. So they're still in circulation, but they're being kind of reused. So that's, yeah, I really like I'm going to donate kind of, yeah, that you know, local schools and charities, that sort of really cool thing. And when it comes to goodie bags,
00:18:02
Speaker
Obviously, none would be the best option. We don't need them. I know we all do need something to get us to the line, like some kind of motivation incentive at the end, but there are different options for this. You can also have virtual goodie bags and e-bouchers. There's lots of websites offering these. Such a good idea. And you can also have these for local businesses in your area.
00:18:30
Speaker
So it could be discounts that will agree to these at the local shops, et cetera, or for one of the sponsors. And then obviously to avoid waste surplus and especially food waste is to provide kind of non-perishable food and drink items so people can take them away. Like it's not something you have to consume immediately or within a few days. Yeah, just kind of exploring the different options you can have and prioritizing
00:18:59
Speaker
locally supplied goodies to have at a finish line. And I know Darwin's got has some really good
00:19:09
Speaker
system going with his medals and maces. Yeah, Darren's nodding along vigorously there. So Darren, why don't you tell us about your sustainable medals? They're quite innovative. Yeah. So when I kind of thought about the race and what we would give, everyone kind of likes a medal. So we don't do any tree, any tea option at all. But everyone kind of likes a medal. But the wooden ones
00:19:35
Speaker
the feedback is that they're a little bit light and you want something a little bit weight. So the slate ones are a really good option because it's recycled slate which is a natural product and one thing that we don't do is we don't put a date on them either because you never know, you'll get the registrations but not everyone's going to turn up to the race for whatever reason. So you could end up with a surplus there even though you could
00:20:10
Speaker
rarely do you get the full amount of runners turn up on the day. So to non-date them means that they can carry on to the following year. And what you can then do is with the ITAB, which has your time, you can then add the date onto the ITAB if
00:20:30
Speaker
date of when that was. And then to cut out on any ribbon, because obviously when you order medals, you then get ribbon. We decided to use pre-loved trainer laces, which we got from rerun clothing. So Dan and Charlotte obviously did rerun, and any trainers that were destined for end of life,
00:20:58
Speaker
not into landfill or incineration because they wouldn't do that. But any that were end of life that couldn't be passed onto charity, we would take the laces out, wash them in white vinegar and thread them through the medals that we received from the medal company. So no waste medals.
00:21:18
Speaker
Yeah, that's lovely. How have they been received then generally? Yeah, really good. Yeah. In fact, this year, to kind of make awareness around climate change, we had all the different colors in the climate change color. So from blue to sort of white into red, just to show the effect of climate change. And that went down. So you can be quite creative with it.
00:21:50
Speaker
We're in our third year and everyone loves the medal because it's weighty, it's quite classy in the way that it's been designed and because it's got that weight to it and people understand the ethos of the race. I think that's another thing around education is when you, and going back to Ellie's point about transport and having a transport,
00:22:24
Speaker
if that makes sense. Yeah, that makes perfect sense. Yeah, and you do kind of... I've certainly seen more races taking this into consideration now. What happens if a race doesn't? How do we approach that? How can we affect change there? Have you got any tips? Well, for me personally, I...
00:22:51
Speaker
So with regards to trees, not teas, if anyone, any race didn't offer trees, not teas, I wouldn't go to that race or I wouldn't enter that race. And then I realized that actually I would only enter the races that offered trees, not teas. And then I realized that the races that I need to enter are the ones that don't offer trees, not teas so that I can then
00:23:20
Speaker
speak to the race director on the day. And I think that the whole piece around speaking out is really important and making people aware. And from what I've seen, especially being involved with the green runners and the community that's growing, there is runners are understanding now this tree's not tea's option. And I think it's okay to provide medals, but it should be, I guess, an add-on.
00:23:50
Speaker
I mean, I did a Centurion race early on in the year, the 100 Hills, and they gave out a iron-on badge, which was exactly the same as the medal, which was brilliant. I did another race about six weeks ago called the Bates Green Gallop, and you could choose either no medal, an old medal from previous years, or a new medal, but you have to pay extra. So there's loads of different ways on how we can do it.
00:24:20
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, as a race director, how, you know, how difficult is that to to actually put into practice? Because like with a lot of medals now, people will tend to go for best value, which means they often have to order in advance. They can take a long time to arrive. So how do you actually put that into practice where you give people the option? Do you have to have kind of lengthy cut off dates before the race itself? How does that work in practice?
00:24:49
Speaker
Yeah, ideally. I mean, the normal cutoff is about six weeks before, especially with no waste metals. So I don't know about any other manufacturers of metals. Maybe it's a bit more difficult with the metal metals or the heavier metals, the metals. But I think if you plan to, everyone has a cap on their limit of runners.
00:25:18
Speaker
And for me, especially, I will only order up to that maximum. And then, like I say, if you don't date them, then you can use them the following year. So, yeah, it's a real difficult one. medals, I think are here to stay. And it suggests about how we get the best option. I mean, I like
00:25:46
Speaker
medals, you literally, you literally plant their medals, they've got seeds in and they grow. That's different. Yeah, it's amazing. So, you know, there are loads of options out there now that are more sustainable. So all I'd say is to any race directors is have a look at the options that are out there. Don't just stick with the supply that you've had for years. Look at what other options are out there. Yeah.
00:26:13
Speaker
And I guess, listen, listen, when people chat to you at the end of a race and go, I don't necessarily want a medal today or a t-shirt. Exactly. Like you said, how many medals do you actually need? How many t-shirts do you need? But for those ones where they're a pinnacle race for you, then it's really important. So yeah, I think medals will always stay just choosing the best option.
00:26:40
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And I think, like you say, if we can have an opt-in, that would be the best scenario, wouldn't it? Yeah. So we've chatted about travel, we've talked about goody bags and t-shirts and medals.
Addressing Plastic Waste and Sustainable Practices
00:26:53
Speaker
What else do we need to consider? What about kind of plastic bottles and waste and things from races? How can we
00:27:00
Speaker
How can we make changes there? What do we need to be aware of? Myself and Ellie have had conversations about this. Have you? Yeah, we've... It's Darren's passion project. Okay. Tell me more. Tell me more. Well, it's... So, I mean, 98% of the carbon footprint is travel, which we know. Yeah.
00:27:26
Speaker
that you see is the plastic bottles and I've got a, I'm going to call them out because it's our fourth pillar, is Buxton Water. Okay so obviously London Marathon, Brighton Marathon, I had the opportunity to do Brighton Marathon and the amount of bottles were horrendous and yeah I'm just on a mission now to try and
00:27:58
Speaker
not stop because we need to provide hydration at aid stations. There's a real question. This is a whole different other conversation is how many aid stations do you actually need in a 40k race? So when you compare road running to trail running, you know? Very different. It's very, very different. And I ran
00:28:25
Speaker
brighter marathon with my bladder pack that I would run in the trail. I didn't have to take any bottles of water. It wasn't that much more inconvenient for me. And in fact, I had a really good run, as in times. I know it's more about PBs and stuff like that in road marathons, but it wasn't an inconvenience. And because bladder packs and vests have got so much
00:28:58
Speaker
is used in these vests are so much better than what they were. So they're not as inconvenient as what they used to be. So for me, I would like to see some of the marathon, the road marathon races take some of the ultra trail ethos into some of their races because, and again, my own personal view is what I saw on the day is
00:29:29
Speaker
runners picking up a bottle, taking a couple of swigs, throwing a little bit over their head, discarding the bottles. And there were photos five days later of bottles still discarded around Brighton. So that for me is a big issue. And I'll call them out again. You can cut this out if you want.
00:29:55
Speaker
pet but it's that might be the best plastic but it's the energy that's involved to create those bottles and then the water that goes in the bottles that is all you know it's hardly ever used so so that for me plastic bottles are my big things I'm I'm completely coupless one of the best one of the ideas I took from Ultra X actually I did their 50k hazelmere
00:30:25
Speaker
And they had a load of sort of small 10, 15 litre bottles, like camping bottles of water with a little tap lined up along the wall. So you then don't get the issue of runners queuing behind to maybe too bigger.
00:30:46
Speaker
bottles, if that makes sense, storage containers. So I use that in my race and that works. And everyone knows it's coupless as well. So you have to bring their own cup. Yeah. And that doesn't have to be expensive, does it? I mean, you've made your own out of... Yeah, I make my own. I've been using them for two years. It's literally a tetra pack carton, either an oat milk carton, use the bottom, fold it up.
00:31:17
Speaker
And it's so easy to use, but even the little plastic fold up ones, I can't believe I'm saying this, but you know, they're a better option than having tons of hard plastic bottles. Yeah. Yeah. And they fold up really small, don't they? They're very inexpensive. 100%. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It would be good to see races get better at this. I know various things have been trialed. I've seen like ideas of the bubbles and how successful they've been. Have you got any thoughts on that, Ellie? And ooh-hoo.
00:31:46
Speaker
Yeah, the brilliant company, really innovative. And certainly can see it in being a way forward for especially for road paraffins and big events like that. But obviously because they're kind of in the early days, they are too expensive for a lot of events and then the whole transport thing comes in. But yeah, I think using them at the big events is obviously going to save a ton of plastic bottles because that's where most of them are. Yeah. As Darren said, and
00:32:17
Speaker
Yeah. Road, I know I speak to quite a lot of Mass Sport organizers and their hosts of like the larger marathons and events, and they are looking towards the trail running, community and trail running races for inspiration, especially when it comes to self-sufficiency. And not least because of in the heatwaves, it's been really evident how people carrying hydration have often fared better than those who are relying on water stations.
00:32:47
Speaker
which were struggling to keep up with the increased demand and low capacity. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know how much you want me to go into this. Yeah, I'm fascinated, so please say a bit more about it. I can literally see for hours, so I'll try and give it a shot. So my ideas for race directors would be to at least have the plastic-free goal
00:33:15
Speaker
insight, like kind of steps you can get towards, such as Royal Parks half and Bath half are also aspiring to be plastic free and it's kind of incrementally year on year, they're trying out different initiatives to try and get to that 80 to 100%. There's also lots of guides actually on how event organisers can minimise or reduce their plastics, such as the IOC is plastic game for sport,
00:33:43
Speaker
Volvo Ocean Race has turn a tide on plastic at sport events and there's even a plastic free sport event toolkit. There's a plastic free pledge which festivals and sports events can take and it has like guys resources and also like a kind of community feel to that as well so you can learn from each other motivate each other.
00:34:06
Speaker
And as Darwin said, to really emphasize the whole pre event communication piece would be to encourage runners to bring their own bottles and cups if they can. So yeah, you have to make runners aware in advance, so they don't turn up with nothing and then you don't have any solutions for them to drink from. Yeah. And in terms of a whole kind of
00:34:31
Speaker
gel wrapper, waste conundrum. Yeah, you do, this is, as Darren said, it's very visible, especially on road paraffins, the kind of trails of gel wrappers and waste that kind of lead along the 26.2 roads. So yeah, there are solutions. There are some brands out there, so kind of like the plastic free or responsible brands. So plastic free would be such things like One Good Thing,
00:34:57
Speaker
outdoor provisions, but also just kind of supermarket staples like bananas and kind of decanting things into, I know like a lot of trail races have these aid stations, they get big bulk buying into can't things like into little paper cases. So I want to pick up with them. It's also like they are some good responsible like sports nutrition brands. So I know high five and war bellow in particular,
00:35:27
Speaker
take responsibility for their packaging events they partner and sponsor with. So they're there and they will recycle it through, I believe it's a terror cycle and first mile at the top of my head. And yeah, and emphasizing using your own hydration bladder and bottles. I know some road events are starting to do this, like at London Math and last year, if you read their policy this year and at the stand,
00:35:57
Speaker
We encouraged people as one of their pledges was to run with one of the bottle belts to kind of reduce the number of water bottles we'd have to provide. And yes, some local, you know, smaller examples, tape to tape have recycling tent at the finish line of their Great Grinsby 10K. And a lot of other races could also kind of copy the sleeves and have a volunteer run waste station or dedicated zone or even have a green team.
00:36:28
Speaker
um, you know, along the route or at the start and finish. And yeah, and again, with that communication piece to ask runners not to litter, to even impose a kind of penalty for like a DEQ, which I know a lot of vaters have done if runners are seeing littering and ask for tail runners if they could pick up any litter they find along the way to ensure that the event has left no trace.
00:36:54
Speaker
Yeah. So actually the things you've mentioned there, Ellie, are really achievable, aren't they? They're all really simple things. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It just shows what you can do if you're aware of it. So I think what you're saying is the first step is to actually say we need to make some changes here. Yeah. And just start somewhere.
00:37:16
Speaker
And is that whole education piece? It really is. Yeah. So it's, I mean, there's two brands, Lucio De Leto's, which are wrapped in a banana leaf. Oh, that's right. Yeah. And they're a good energy bar. And then you've got one good thing that are completely reckless. And they've got an energy bar for pre and during the race and then protein bars for after the
00:37:41
Speaker
And that's where we kind of want to get to. So going back to Ellie's point about, you know, sort of the less perishable items, you know, you want, you want to have the, you need to have a nutritional option based on the distance of the race, but there are loads of good options out there now. Yeah. But actually, you know, when we're training for a longer event, we do all that stuff on our own anyway, don't we?
00:38:08
Speaker
You know, we should be encouraging runners to be more self-sufficient, shouldn't we? Yeah, we don't need to be hand-holding them through races, necessarily. I'll just refer in there. I know these are becoming very popular is refillable gel flasks. Yes. So they can replace like eight to 10 gels, some of them. I know some of the popular brands are now doing them. High five comes to mind, active root.
00:38:34
Speaker
And yeah, you could encourage your favourite sports nutrition brand to perhaps even offer this on their website. Yeah. And again, we're back to that speaking out. Yeah.
00:38:47
Speaker
So have we covered everything? Well, I know it's a huge, it's a huge topic. Have we covered the main points that we need to be looking at as events? Cause I'd like to move on briefly to what, you know, runners can do as well, just outside of racing briefly. I think so. I just want to throw in there cable ties. Oh yes. Reusable cable ties. One of the big things that I look for now are single use cable ties because especially on
00:39:16
Speaker
big ultra races, especially trial races, not so much rows, but the amount of signage that's used with single-use cable ties. In fact, I had a good discussion with Davey, who does the lap, the race director for the lap. Oh, yeah. And he was talking about each other's races, and he said, I'm not going to talk to you unless you tell me you use reusable cable ties.
00:39:45
Speaker
I had to physically show him on my phone my signage with reusable cable ties and that's really encouraging that that was at the National Running Show in January and you've got a race director challenging another race director about reusable cable ties you know and it was you know I was expecting to be challenging others and it was good for Davey to you know and it was it was really encouraging so if there's any RDs out there that are you know
00:40:21
Speaker
definitely use those. Save so much waste. Yeah, no, that's brilliant. And so, yeah, so let's just move on then just to what what steps can individual runners take because, you know, running sustainably goes far beyond event organizers, doesn't
Sustainable Running Gear and Alternatives
00:40:39
Speaker
it? And I'd like to touch firstly upon the latest controversy in the industry of these single use racing shoes. You know what? We seem to be moving in the wrong direction here.
00:40:52
Speaker
What's, what's going on? Have you got any thoughts? About the single-use running shoes. Yeah. Cause all this work we're putting in to kind of, you know, reduce impact on climate. And then suddenly we've got brands releasing shoes like this.
00:41:12
Speaker
Yeah, it's shocking, to be fair. I mean, the green runners have called out Adidas around their single-use shoe. We've had a lot of commentary about it and a lot of agreement from runners about it. Yeah, it's shocking. There will always be a need for advancements in technology.
00:41:42
Speaker
However, to make a shoe that is guaranteed to last only one marathon is shocking, in my view. And I work with, obviously, a lot of trainers in what I do with pair ups. And there are 22 billion pairs of trainers made every year, which is shocking. And the majority, then, will end up in landfill or in incineration.
00:42:12
Speaker
And the majority of them are a minimum of 95% fossil fuel. They're made out of, you know, pizza. So it's shocking. So for Adidas to advertise that and also get over the loophole of making a certain amount to make it available for the public at that price.
00:42:38
Speaker
Yeah, it is shocking. But there will be runners out there that will be enthused by what they see. And we want to try and use as much technology as they can to get that PB. I've got a view that we should be looking after the planet rather than our PBs. And that's kind of where I am on it, really.
00:43:03
Speaker
If you want to check out any commentary around it, then check out thegreenrunners.com and on Instagram because there's loads of commentary about it. Yeah. And I should probably say that Darren's working really hard to prolong the life of runiches, aren't you, with repair-ups and help educate people on how to repair them.
00:43:25
Speaker
Yeah, it's all about education, yeah, literally. It's providing a puncture repair kit for trainer uppers to extend their life and stop them going into landfill. That is basically it. The waste is, I mean, it's probably, well, it is, it's the biggest waste issue with our kit. It's by far, and then that's,
00:43:52
Speaker
We will always need trainers. For me, I can run in any pair of shorts and any t-shirt, but I will need a pair of trainers and I'll need a waterproof jacket. So for me, they're the most fundamental bits is a pair of trainers and a running jacket, especially obviously this time of year.
00:44:19
Speaker
So with regards to apparel, I'm totally against a new apparel. And I'm going to go off on one ear again, so you can cut it out. But I made a comment on LinkedIn about a company called Pressia who's released all this new, you know,
00:44:47
Speaker
apparel that's technically advanced, it's more sustainable and all of that. But we just don't need that kit. There's so much of it already produced, already in the world. We don't need it. And another thing, just going back to
00:45:14
Speaker
that they don't use anymore and then they can swap it out. So it is a great way of repurposing product rather than it being given to a charity that would potentially end up
00:45:31
Speaker
landfill in a third world country because there is evidence where trackers have been placed on these items and they've travelled thousands of miles around the world where they were given into a charity bin at a supermarket. With the runner or the individual putting that in with good intent, thinking it was going to go somewhere,
00:45:55
Speaker
when actually it's not. So there's so much waste around that. So yeah, going back to your point, Adidas, yeah, for me, have made the wrong choice as regards promoting their Adazera. Sorry, Ellie, go on. No, no. No, what you said was great. And especially the whole communication piece, because it's only once you delve into the impact of the clothing industry, especially the trainer industry, like
00:46:25
Speaker
As in if the training industry were a country, it'd be the world's 17th largest polluter, which is emitting as much CO2 per year as a whole of the UK. That's incredible. And sneak productions, a train of production accounts for 1.4% off the global greenhouse gas emissions, and which is only just behind air travel, which is 2.5% of all emissions. So yeah, once you
00:46:53
Speaker
this is the whole, you know, the whole where why we speak out and kind of learning more about it. So you can make the correct changes and responsible. I, you know, actions going forward as a runner. It's just learn more because you can't change what you don't know. Yeah. And so as Dan's after the communication piece, and now, you know, you might be thinking, what do I do now? Who do I buy from?
00:47:20
Speaker
Um, yeah, and that is very tricky because there's, you know, we're bound with green washing across the fashion industry. So you can't. Holly believe a lot of the claims these companies are making, especially when they use, you know, the words green or recycled content, um, and other kinds of buzzwords. And so actually the best thing you could do as a runner is buy less.
00:47:45
Speaker
and prolong what you already have. Because the most sustainable apparel and shoes is what's already on your feet and in your wardrobe. And yeah, I'll just give us a few shout outs to pre-love sports. They're a fantastic way of getting secondhand clothing, really, a lot of the time, really high quality. You know, from jackets to socks to leggings to trainers to accessories.
00:48:15
Speaker
I also, I always use Vinted, I use Facebook Marketplace, there's running Gearby and Cell, there's eBay, there's Depop. And a lot of these items are near perfect, a lot of them still have the same labels on them. So buying secondhand doesn't mean, you know, secondhand quality, it's not a lower quality. And especially if you're running about to get sweaty and muddy in it anyway. But yeah, that's what we do is be kind of rethink, do I need another
00:48:45
Speaker
pair of trainers, reduce, so, you know, kind of commit to buying less and prolonging the life of your pair, so you buy less than a year. And opting for secondhand thrifting, as again, Darren said, you could, you know, encourage your club to do swaps, so kick swaps. Yeah, our club does this, it works really well, actually. Yeah. Especially if you don't get on with a pair of shoes, you know, the whole problem with
00:49:14
Speaker
buying online and such is that you can't return them after you've worn them, that you don't know if they fit if you don't wear them. So, yeah, that's where the kind of swapping sites, clubs, groups, and also just Facebook Marketplace comes really in handy. Yeah, and because I don't have a statistic at the top of my head, I believe. Oh, correct me if I'm wrong, Darren. Was it 25 million pairs of trainers a major year? 22 billion.
00:49:44
Speaker
22 billion. Okay. That has come for consumers. Yeah. In 2018, yes, something like 55 million pairs of trainers were produced every day. Yeah. Yeah. Which is crazy. Yeah. So yeah, it's just going back to that bit about the clubs, actually. Any
00:50:06
Speaker
clubs that have got a junior running club, it's really good to do that kick swap because obviously kids roll out so quickly. My phone just decided to go a bit crazy. But yeah, for juniors in running clubs, that kick swap works really, really well. Yeah.
00:50:30
Speaker
Yeah, such good ideas. I love the idea of having one at races as well. As long as that's advertised well in advance, that's great. Well, it's been absolutely fascinating having you both on to chat about this. I think we could talk about it for hours, couldn't we? I think we're on the same page as well. So where can our listeners find out more if we've got a race director listening who wants to make some improvements or we've got a runner just wanting to find out more work and they get in touch and find some resources?
00:51:00
Speaker
Yeah,
Resources for Sustainable Race Events
00:51:01
Speaker
I'd say the best point of contact would be contact joining the Greenlanders and contacting us through one of our social media channels, so whether that be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or even email. If you're a race director, there's, I believe, a few hubs online, there's like a race director hub, or even just reaching out to like other local organizers in your area to see
00:51:27
Speaker
what you could do together or finding local suppliers or kind of coming up with solutions to current issues such as the waste of composting, the bottles, stuff like that. And yeah, I'm always open to anyone wanting to get in touch with any questions at any time as well.
00:51:46
Speaker
Yeah, I can highly recommend Ellie. She is the font of all knowledge when it comes to race sustainability. So yeah, give Ellie a shout. So where can we find you, Ellie? Um, best place to be. I want Instagram as, oh gosh, underscore treading lightly underscore. We'll pop it in the show notes and then people can find it. Or just message your green ladders and they'll probably forward on to me.
00:52:16
Speaker
Are we allowed to talk about your re-sport? Yeah, this isn't the basis of Green Runners, but I work for a really cool organisation called the Council for a Sportable Sport, and we were behind Certifying London Marathon recently, you've got gold, and if you go on our website, you've got a list of certified events from all over the world, a lot of their major marathons and such.
00:52:43
Speaker
And we have this really cool app, which is free to use, free to access for events of any size, any location called Rescore. So if you, it's free to sign up, it's free to use the resources, the guides, the templates, the case studies. And it's kind of, we have five different pillars, so to speak, which we do tie into the Green Runners pillars in many aspects, such as we have planning communications, procurement, resource management,
00:53:13
Speaker
access and equity in community legacy. So it's a real good balance of ESG, so the environmental, the social, the governance economics of putting on a responsible event. And also on our website, if you wanted, so yeah, you can also download the standards, we have a standards page. So if you're an organisation or an event, you can download it, it's kind of like a checklist. And you know, it's been used since 2007 by hundreds of event organisers.
00:53:41
Speaker
and piloted by many, it's adapted, improved, and we'll have further improvements in adaptations in 2024 as well, which will be aligned with like the pinnacle of global standards, such as the UN standards. So yeah, you can book a one to one with me for free. It's just a 30 minute call to see where you're at, what your aspirations are, how we can help. And yeah, you can
00:54:07
Speaker
Feel free just to use our resources and such and work your way through the free self-assessment. Oh, fantastic. So that's the Rescore app. Rescore, which you can download and get into that way. That's online and you could have multiple people use it within your team as well. Yeah, it's great. Really good. Yeah. What a fantastic resource. Well, thank you so much for your time. To all those listening out there, I hope you've enjoyed listening in.
00:54:35
Speaker
and do get in touch with the Green Runners. Hopefully you've got a new flux of some new members. Cheers, Michelle. Thank you. Thanks so much.