Recyclable Cups? A New Hope

Runners love their coffee, and during races they need water and other hydration drinks. The most popular method for delivering the drinks continues to be paper cups. And why not? They’re inexpensive, lightweight, and do their job well. And they’re often provided free to races by sponsors such as Absopure. But the standard cup isContinue reading “Recyclable Cups? A New Hope”

HPR Accepts Environmental Excellence Award

What’s more fun than getting an award? An award plus getting to promote sustainability at running events! Happy Planet Running has been given a 2018 Eunice L. Burns Environmental Awareness Award from the Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors (AAABoR). I accepted the award at their annual meeting on January 10. I was nominated for theContinue reading “HPR Accepts Environmental Excellence Award”

Happy Planet Running Receives Environmental Awareness Award!

From the Totally Unexpected News desk: I’ve won an award! The Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors (AAABoR) has selected HPR to receive its Eunice L. Burns Environmental Awareness Award for 2018. The award recognizes HPR for developing Zero Waste programs for local running events such as the Ann Arbor Marathon and the Dexter andContinue reading “Happy Planet Running Receives Environmental Awareness Award!”

Cold Turkey, Hot Chocolate, Zero Waste

A cold, blustery morning didn’t stop thousands of people from packing downtown Ann Arbor for the annual Turkey Trot. With a hot chocolate and coffee station for the runners, we promised to be awash in cups, as well as bananas, cookies, and cardboard from all the boxes. We learned last year that making the raceContinue reading “Cold Turkey, Hot Chocolate, Zero Waste”

Worth Gobbling About! A2 Turkey Trot Sustainability Report

Baby, it was cold outside! But due to their dedication to the great sport of running, hundreds of people came out to run at Hudson Mills anyway. Or maybe it was the Ray’s Red Hots, hot chocolate and pumpkin pie. Either way, the Zero Waste team had a job to do. How’d we manage? SmoothContinue reading “Worth Gobbling About! A2 Turkey Trot Sustainability Report”

Slam that Cider! Scrumpy Skedaddle 2017 Zero Waste Report

A perfect fall morning, a run through an apple orchard, pancakes, and the best draft hard cider on the planet. That’s as good as it gets, folks. And this year, over 2,000 people showed up at Almar Orchards in Flushing to run, eat, and imbibe. The Scrumpy Skedaddle is a great race, but last yearContinue reading “Slam that Cider! Scrumpy Skedaddle 2017 Zero Waste Report”

Down and Dirty: Dances with Dirt – Hell 2017

Dances with Dirt – Hell is an excuse for several thousand people to dress up in wild costumes, run a few miles on trails, get dirty, and then consume a lot of beer. Hundreds of relay teams and a few brave solo ultrarunners carve their way through the Pinckney recreation area – some of itContinue reading “Down and Dirty: Dances with Dirt – Hell 2017”

Hear Them Roar! Detroit Women’s Half Marathon Sustainability Report

What happens when you take 1,000 women, give them coffee and chocolate, and blast the Katy Perry music? A half marathon breaks out! Would the Zero Waste team pick up enough of that energy to stay on top of the trash? Read on to find out!

Peace, Love, and Zero Waste: Run Woodstock Sustainability Report

Billed as, “a weekend of peace, love, music, and running,” Run Woodstock is the largest RF Events race of the year. It also generates the most waste of the year, with enough work to keep the Zero Waste team busy from setup on Thursday through takedown on Sunday. In 2016 we achieved 88% landfill diversionContinue reading “Peace, Love, and Zero Waste: Run Woodstock Sustainability Report”

No Sour Grapes! Running Between the Vines Achieves 99 Percent Diversion

Attempting Zero Waste at a race that also involves wining and dining 2,000 people? No problem! A beautiful morning for a challenging set of races, and despite being up to our epaulets in cardboard, the Zero Waste team achieved a high for the year in waste diversion. Read on to see how we did it!