A nice day for the RF Events Bonfyre Trail Fest! Chilly but not windy, which allowed the bonfires to be lit and keep people warm. Over 700 runners showed up for trail runs of 5(ish), 10(ish), and 18(ish) miles on the DTE Foundation Trails and enjoy live music, food trucks, and s’mores around the fires afterward.
Our Zero Waste station was in the party area across from the beer tent. We put All Waste boxes at the entrance, near the games area, and at the beer tent. We put out “Free Stuff” boxes of warm clothes and items like water bottles and space blankets. Not a lot taken this year. Not sure why, but demand is different every time.
After the races started there was little to do for about an hour, so I got in a short run on the nearby Border-to-Border Trail. I was pretty annoyed to see so much litter along the roads. I came back with two plastic bags full (guess where I found those) and went back after the event to retrieve more, but I could have collected a lot more. Makes me even more sensitive to sweeping the event space clean of waste.
Cardboard was once again the largest contributor to our waste stream, coming from registration and the finish line. Thanks to the finish line staff, who brought their waste to us for most of the event. This year beer was served in compostable cups, not cans, which reduced waste volume and didn’t require rinsing, both welcome changes. Food was provided by Simply Spanish and Vegged Out, both of whom used compostable containers, saving us time we used to break down all the cardboard from the finish line.
Bridget (left) and Jessica (center) swimming in a sea of cardboard.
None of my interns or staff were available that day, so I relied on my stalwart regular volunteer Bridget to help during the rush, and got some unexpected but very welcome help from Jessica, a running regular. The only slight hiccup was that we were so busy, we didn’t have time to sort the water stop bags onsite. (Plus it was cold and the bags were wet.) So they got sorted later on at HPR HQ when it was warmer and sunnier.
One opportunity for improvement: find a way to not tear off beer tickets from race bibs. They are only recyclable through TerraCycle and can blow around everywhere. A mark with a Sharpie would accomplish the same goal. Not really complaining, though, with less than two pounds of landfill!
Happy Planet Running 