It was Run Scream Run day at Wiard’s Orchards! Over 700 runners showed up, and there were costumes a-plenty. And all were in good “spirits” which should be expected, with cider and donuts afterward.
It was a perfect morning for a 5K or 10K, cool and sunny, and the orchard’s Haunted Forest welcomed runners with some final scary moments before they finished. And the Zero Waste team was there to keep away the specter of the landfill.
The Grim Reaper (a.k.a. Jeff) shows a runner where to put his waste – or else.
As usual, we set up Zero Waste stations at the entrance to the building where the cider and donuts are served, and another on the way to the parking lot. We policed the finish line and they brought us collected wrap from awards and other miscellaneous items. Traffic into the cider building actually went behind our tables this year, so we should consider tables on both sides next time.
Major waste streams were cardboard from boxes of T-shirts, bananas, donuts and awards, banana peels, and cups from cider (compostable) and the water stops (waxed). The main source of landfill were waxed liners from the donut boxes, and some tape.
We had four on the Green Team this year, up from just two last year, which made things go much more smoothly. I even had time to run the 5K, which I did in costume. Our assigned volunteer didn’t show, but longtime volunteer Bridget offered to help, as did her son Andrew, who also ran the 5K. Thanks, guys!
From left: Jeff, HPR interns Kaylee and Becca, and volunteer Bridget. (Andrew is taking the photo.)
The only glitch was that my Jeep was having some engine trouble, so instead of using our nice new trailer I rented a U-Haul van, which was just big enough to carry the equipment and the generated waste. So it worked out, and we can chalk up another great result!
Happy Planet Running 