Running Between the Vines at Sandhill Crane Vineyards is always a long day for Team Zero Waste, but it has its compensations. The event features half marathon, 5K, and 5-mile distances, and a sophisticated afterparty with a live jazz band, Zingerman’s bread and olive oil, hummus, Mindo chocolate, and wine tastings served in a finisher’s glass.
We set up our usual three stations in the party area, near registration, and by the porta-potties. An All Waste box was put in the transition area for those running the 5K and 5-miler consecutively. In the party area we put out two large All Waste boxes next to the busiest tables, and swapped them out when they got full.
And flowers from my daughter’s wedding get one last moment in the sun!
Naturally, we had a few hiccups. One of my interns had a conflict and couldn’t attend, and another got sick the night before! So it was down to Debbie and me, until a sympathetic RF Events staff rustled up a volunteer for us. Neha turned out to be just as fanatic about recycling, so she was a great addition to the team.
Another headache arose when the vineyard ran out of compostable cups and started using plastic ones. Yikes! Now we had to very carefully check each cup to know how to handle it, as the two streams cannot mix.
Quick, which of these cups are compostable and which are not?
I was worried we’d get overwhelmed given the volume we were handling, but Debbie and Neha were up to the task, allowing me to manage the other stations while they held down the party area. I had no time to sort the aid station bags, however, so I took care of that back at HPR HQ the next day, along with soaking the aluminum pans that held the meatballs.
On the positive side, the vineyard took back their empty wine bottles, saving us from hauling around heavy boxes like in previous years. And big kudos to the crew at the finish line, who in addition to managing water and medals, broke down and stacked their cardboard next to the HPR trailer. We were able to quickly weigh and load it, which was great because I needed to drop off the recycling and then come back to load up the compostables and equipment.
So it was another long day, but all turned out well, with less than eight pounds of landfill, and that included several broken finisher glasses. Something one could raise a glass to!
P.S. The answer to the photo above: the two cups on the left, and the white paper cup, are compostable. The other two are plastic and have to go in the recycling stream.
Happy Planet Running 