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https://www.positive.news/society/redefining-the-race-the-initiative-tackling-runnings-carbon-footprint/>
"Running. On the surface, it should be one of the most sustainable sports
going. Pull on a pair of shorts, lace up your kicks, and you’re ready to smash
out your first couch to 5k. The reality, however, often tells a different
story.
From chasing the latest gear to jetting off to far-flung races, the modern
running scene isn’t always as green as it looks. Finishers’ medals, race day
merch and the flood of single-use plastic littering big events all take their
toll.
Now, a growing number of track stars, marathoners and cross-country die-hards
are mobilising under the banner of The Green Runners (TGR) to reimagine the
sport by cutting emissions, tackling waste and urging others to join the race
against climate breakdown.
“You don’t have to be vegan, you don’t have to give up flying altogether or
have a stupid haircut like me,” jokes TGR co-founder and professional ultra
runner Damian Hall. “We’re just meeting people where they are and letting them
make their own changes. People really seem to want it.”
TGR sprang from a WhatsApp group of 50 runners who are passionate about
sustainability before launching officially as a club three years ago. Running
world legends including ultra champions Dan Lawson and Jasmin Paris were among
the founding members and the club now counts more than 3,000 members united by
a singular vision: to run without the footprint.
Researching his book,
We Can’t Run Away From This, Hall uncovered a raft of
troubling sustainability statistics, facts that would stop any
climate-conscious runner in their tracks.
“I was horrified,” he says. “Running is nowhere near as bad as, say, football,
but a big city marathon like Paris can have a similar carbon footprint to the
entire lifetime emissions of 35 people.”
And there’s more. The global trainer industry pumps out as much planet-warming
CO₂ as the whole of the UK, where we send 300 million pairs to landfill every
year. The 2018 London Marathon used more than 900,000 plastic bottles. And 60%
of UK runners own 10 or more freebie race T-shirts.
“One of the most troubling aspects is sports brands telling us to throw our
shoes away after 300-500 miles,” says Hall. “Or saying: ‘Here’s a new pair in a
slightly different colour.’ It depends on the runner and the ground you’re
running on, but plenty of people are getting 1,000 miles of use without issues.
The umbrella problem here is over-consumption.”
In response, TGR lays out four ‘green pillars’. Not hard-and-fast rules, Hall
notes, but more a friendly guide nudging members to think about, and try to
mitigate, their impact on the planet."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
