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Future-Proof Your Events: Sustainability Tips from the Pros

Future-Proof Your Events: Sustainability Tips from the Pros

Eventrac's sustainability webinar featured Abby McGrath from Trees Not Tees and Darren Evans from Three Word Runs and The Green Runners. The session explored practical ways event organisers can reduce their environmental impact, from eliminating plastic bottles to offering tree-planting alternatives to t-shirts. With growing participant demand for more sustainable events, this webinar provided actionable tips that organisers can implement right away - many with just a single click through the Eventrac platform.

 

 

Trees Not Tees: Reduce Unnecessary Merchandise

Trees Not Tees offers participants the option to plant a tree instead of receiving a race t-shirt. Here's what makes this initiative impactful:

  • Environmental impact of t-shirts: A single polyester t-shirt produces over 3kg of CO2 (equivalent to driving 11 miles), contains plastic equivalent to about seven plastic bottles, and uses between 500-1000 litres of water.
  • Double the good: By opting for Trees Not Tees, you not only plant trees but also avoid the environmental damage from unnecessary t-shirt production.
  • UK-based planting: Trees are planted at 12 UK sites using native or naturalised trees, with each tree being maintained for five years.
  • Trees, not t-shirts: Their philosophy is simple – if participants will genuinely wear and value a t-shirt, that's fine. The problem is when unwanted shirts end up at the bottom of wardrobes.

 

 

Practical Sustainability Measures for Event Organisers
 

Eliminate Plastic Bottles

  • Provide water stations instead of plastic bottles: Set up refill stations rather than handing out single-use bottles.
  • Encourage participants to bring their own containers: Suggest foldable cups (even repurposed oat milk cartons), silicone cups, or hydration vests.
  • No cups option: Consider following Darren's lead at Rathfinny runs - provide water only at aid stations with no cups, requiring participants to bring their own containers.
     

Travel Considerations

  • Biggest impact: The largest environmental impact for any running event is participant travel.
  • Consider event timing: Schedule events to allow for public transport use (many races start too early for train arrivals).
  • Offer transport options: Consider providing shuttle buses from local stations.
  • Car-sharing incentives: Encourage car sharing or charge a small fee for single-occupancy vehicles (Darren donates these fees to local charities).
     

Medals and Race Bibs

  • Undated medals: Don't date your medals to avoid waste when you have leftovers.
  • Sustainable alternatives: Consider recycled slate medals or iron-on stickers.
  • Reusable race bibs: For smaller events without timing chips, consider reusable bibs.
  • Bib folios: Promote bib folios as a sustainable alternative to medals and t-shirts, allowing participants to collect and document their race experiences.
     

Other Sustainability Measures

  • Recycling at aid stations: Set up proper recycling stations separating cardboard, plastic, glass, cans and food waste.
  • Litter management: Arrange for "tail runners" to pick up any dropped litter along the course.
  • Sustainable snacks: Consider the environmental impact and packaging of the snacks you provide.

 

 

The Green Runners: A Community for Sustainable Running

The Green Runners is a community-led organisation founded to help runners make more environmentally conscious choices. Co-founded by Darren Evans (who also runs Three Word Runs events) and other sustainability advocates, they provide resources and support for both runners and event organisers looking to reduce their environmental impact.

As Darren explained during the webinar, "The Green Runners is about making small, individual changes that will help. We call it '50 shades of green' because you don't have to be full-on dark green. We're not expecting you never to buy gear, always cycle to a race, or become vegan."

The Green Runners are currently developing a "Green Race Scheme" specifically to help event organisers think about sustainable changes they can implement. Their philosophy revolves around four key pillars:

  1. How we travel: Reducing travel impact through public transport and car sharing.
  2. How we gear up: Extending the life of running equipment through repairs and buying pre-loved gear.
  3. How we eat: Moving towards more sustainable, plant-based diets.
  4. How we speak out: Using your voice to challenge unsustainable practices.

 

 

Introducing Pair Ups: A Product to Extend the Life of Running Shoes

Pair Ups is a product that event organisers can offer to participants through their registration platform. It's essentially a trainer repair kit - similar to an inner tube repair kit but for running shoes.

Developed by Darren Evans after he learned how to repair his own shoes from ultra-runner Dan Lawson, Pair Ups provides a simple solution to a massive environmental problem: the 22 billion pairs of trainers made yearly that typically end up in landfill where they take 1,000 years to break down.

The kit includes:

  • KT Tape
  • Specialist glue
  • Instructions for extending trainer life

As Darren explained, "Trainers now fail considerably too far, too early. No runner wants to run with a hole in the top. But there's a massive disconnect between durability and weight at the moment."

Some key points about trainer repair:

  • Proven effectiveness: Elite ultra-runner Jasmine Paris ran the first three loops of her successful Barkley Marathons attempt in Pair Ups-repaired trainers she'd had for three years.
  • Trainer Armour: Consider promoting preventative measures like toe and heel protectors for new shoes.
  • Professional resoling: Services like Cheshire Shoe Repairs can replace the entire soles of running shoes when needed.

By offering Pair Ups at registration, organisers provide participants with a practical way to reduce their environmental footprint through extended use of their running shoes.

 

 

How Eventrac Makes Sustainability Easy for Organisers

EventTrac offers several features to help your event become more sustainable with minimal effort:

 

Trees Not Tees Integration

We've made it simple to offer Trees Not Tees to your participants with just a single click:

  1. Go to your event's entry form
  2. Navigate to the merchandise section
  3. Select "third-party products."
  4. Find "Trees Not Tees - Sponsor a Tree" and simply drag and drop it onto your form

That's it! With literally one click, you've given your participants the option to plant a tree instead of receiving a t-shirt. The product will automatically appear on your entry form for all participants to see.

 

Other Sustainability Features

  • Pair Ups product option: Add the Pair Ups trainer repair kit as a third-party product in your entry form with a single click.
  • Reusable cup option: Offer participants the chance to purchase reusable cups during registration, supporting your efforts to reduce plastic bottle usage.
  • Paperless operations: Use the Eventrac scanning app instead of printed registration lists - keeping your check-in process smooth while eliminating paper waste.
  • Carbon tracking: Eventrac automatically tracks the CO2 emissions from participant travel based on their postcodes. As Darren mentioned, this data can be used to offset carbon through partners like Undo Carbon.

 

Small Changes, Big Impact

The key takeaway from our webinar was that sustainability isn't about being perfect – it's about making achievable changes that collectively make a difference. As Darren from The Green Runners says, think of it as "50 shades of green" – you don't have to implement everything at once.

Start with one or two initiatives at your next event and build from there. Whether it's offering Trees Not Tees, eliminating plastic bottles, or encouraging sustainable travel, every small step contributes to future-proofing our events and protecting the spaces we love to run in.