Sunday, October 12 was a perfect day for the Ann Arbor Marathon, with cool temps and partly cloudy skies, and a great turnout with over 2,000 runners doing the full, half, 10K, or 5K runs. That combined with pizza, popcorn, ice cream, and the classic Epic Races full breakfast promised to make it a busy day for the Green Team, and it more than lived up to that.
Managing the late morning rush.
We set up the main Zero Waste station in the post-race vendor area. All Waste boxes went to the finish area (Ashley and Washington), the Water Monsters (finish line and post-race area), and the kitchen tent. We gave the beer area two All Waste boxes plus a cart for cans, most of which were collected by the charity and not included in our waste totals.
Cups instead of disposable bottles saves water, avoids bottle cap litter, and reduces plastic use. And multiple fast-filling spigots means no waiting, too.
Weight of total waste processed dropped 20 percent from last year, even as attendance was up 10 percent. Recycling dropped by nearly 200 lbs., due to less cardboard and fewer paper cups. Some of that was due to losing some aid station bags (see below), and possibly last year’s water weight on cardboard. Compostables were up thanks in part to nearly 30 lbs. of greasy pizza boxes, and landfill was nearly identical.
Like last year we collected a lot of discarded clothing, filling a 64-gallon cart. And dang if we didn’t get another bathrobe! This one is pink, so I respectfully decline to model it. But here’s the one we got last year.
I have a hot tub, and I know how to use it.
We were a bit short-staffed, with most volunteers only able to work a short time, but we got great assistance from LeAnn and Sue, along with staffers Iki and Jen. In addition to handling the rush, they dug right into the first lot of aid station bags and got them all sorted, along with a city recycling bin I left uncovered and thus got filled with mixed waste.
The afternoon Green Team takes on the first load of aid station bags.
Oops.
Unfortunately we had a bit of a snafu with the final load of aid station bags. After 3:30 they had still not arrived and my sister was waiting for me at my house, so one of the Epic staffers offered to drop the bags off in my driveway. But he mistakenly believed they could just be taken to the recycling center, so that’s what he did instead. Problem is, our local recycling center doesn’t accept paper cups, and the Gu wrappers and plastic bags hadn’t been sorted out. Bummer, but it’s an educational opportunity for improvement.
One other lesson learned. Cover all city bins, not just the trash cans, as people ignored the All Waste box and filled an open city recycling can with mixed waste.
Also, the trash can at Liberty and Ashley (the final turn before the finish line) filled up. We could cover it and put an All Waste box there. Perhaps we can appoint an Ashley Street “sweeper” to pick up litter and monitor those bins.
Overall, a smooth event, and we captured the vast majority of the race waste, with a landfill diversion rate over 95 percent. Can’t be upset with that!
The collected waste vs. the single bag o’ trash.
Happy Planet Running 