Construction in downtown Ann Arbor? No problem! The annual Firecracker 5K went on as scheduled, and as the headline photo shows, there were patriotic costumes a-plenty. And for the ninth straight year, Epic Races made the event Zero Waste by having us (HPR) recycle and compost as much waste as possible.
The main event is the 5K, including a special category where runners try to eat four hot dogs in 76 seconds, then run the race. No “cleanups” I was aware of, so congrats to those brave souls. There was also a one-mile option.
Due to said construction on Liberty Street, the start/finish line moved one block north to Washington St. Our main station was at the start/finish, with a small unstaffed station near the smoothie truck at Washington and Division St. We covered City trash and recycling cans on Washington between Division and Fifth Ave. and put All Waste boxes on top. The registration tent also received an All Waste box.
Debbie and Cole hold down the fort.
Compostables (leftover hot dog buns, banana peels, and the wooden sticks from the bomb pops) were even with last year, while recyclables were up, due mainly to more blue waxed cups. They were mixed with the plain paper green ones, which went mostly to compost. Landfill was down to under a pound. I assigned the wrappers to the TerraCycle snack bag Zero Waste box.
Never too young to learn how to recycle!
Just a few cable ties to pick up this time, as a lot of the fencing was secured with reusable bungee cords, a great improvement.
There was no rush to clear the street this year, as the parade did not come down Washington St., but we were still packed up and outta there at 10:00. Thanks to staffers Cole and Debbie, and volunteer Joe for their hard work!
Happy Planet Running 