Happy Planet Running was proud to return this year to provide Zero Waste services for the Riverfront Run put on by the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy. Over 1,600 runners showed up for the 5K and 10K races on a perfect morning in Cullen Plaza, with the song referred to in the title playing over the loudspeakers as they warmed up for the event.
The 10K runners take off.
This year we changed our main Zero Waste station location from near the finish line to the other side of the food tables, near the road to the starting line. This made us more visible and gave us more space to work in, and we were close to the recycling dumpster, making it quick and easy to change out full carts and toss in stacks of collected boxboard and cardboard.
Unstaffed stations with All Waste boxes were set up on either side of the food tables and in the picnic table area near the finish line. We covered park trash cans in the race area, which worked well except for one busy area where people decided to put trash on top of the cover, making it sink and turning it into a trash can again. I tipped it on its side and put it under a table to avoid repeats.
View from our main Zero Waste Station. Spencer empties water cans while a runner puts his waste in our specially marked boxes.
Liquid Death once again provided the finish line water in big cans, which are more easily recycled (at lower cost) than plastic. But we still had to empty a lot of half-full cans. Not a big deal, but time-consuming and a bit wasteful. Banana peels and other food waste went to compost, as did the compostable aid station cups. We also collected Gu and snack bag wrappers, race bibs, and small plastic items which will go to TerraCycle.
Like last year, we had a great team of volunteers. Thanks so much to Sarah, Spencer, Trevor, Tina, and Roz, who kept right on top of things and swapped out the satellite boxes when full. And thanks to the finish line crew, who brought us the boxboard from the cases and helped flatten them.
Once again, everything went smoothly, and we achieved another 99 percent landfill diversion rate, with just two pounds of landfill out of 358 lbs. total waste. We’re so proud to support sustainability in such a beautiful location, and look forward to even more opportunities to serve the riverfront area.
Featured photo at the top of this post: David Miechiels, Detroit Riverfront Conservancy Volunteer Manager, with the event’s Single Pail o’ Trash (SpoT).
Happy Planet Running 