RF Events kicked off their summer triathlons with the Triceratops Tri on a Wednesday afternoon that started with a bit of rain, then turned into a perfect evening for the nearly 300 athletes doing the sprint triathlon or duathlon.
Rocking the 5K to the finish!
I set up the main Zero Waste station near the registration tent, and put large All Waste boxes in transition at Bike Out and Run Out and in the finish area. Also in transition I put up some signs reminding folks to clean up their spots. I think they worked, as litter in that area at takedown (mainly little plastic tabs from ankle bracelets) was less than usual.
Second station in use, with the main station in the background.
As usual, we removed four park trash cans in the race area and retrieved some recyclable items from them. There are two more cans across from the first water stop that receive race waste, so for next time we may cover or remove those as well.
Thanks to the race crew for dropping off the second water stop bags in time for us to sort them onsite. They still needed to be dried in the sun the next day, but it meant less work post-race.
Procedure: Unstack all cups. Let dry. Restack cups. Put in cart to await dropoff.
Fruit smoothie bowls from Playa Bowls replaced boxes of pizza this year. Volume of waste thus went way down, but there were some challenges. The plastic smoothie bowls had to be washed by hand and dried before they could be recycled, and the spoons are apparently mixed bioplastic and regular plastic, meaning they cannot be either composted or recycled. I’m awaiting confirmation on this, so they could yet be reclassified.
Thanks to volunteers Peter and Abby for their help. Great job!
Abby and Peter talk up Zero Waste to the athletes and spectators.
Total waste was up slightly from last year. Compost was up due to two boxes of leftover bananas, while recycling dropped in all main categories – cardboard, mixed recycling, and waxed cups. Landfill rose due to the smoothie spoons, but was still less than three pounds, and a diversion rate of nearly 98 percent.
(Featured photo: My friend Jamie does a dramatic discard.)
Happy Planet Running 