Making our event more environmentally friendly
Children's wooden fun run medal
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Bunting
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re-usable cups
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recycling points
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One of our main aims for the 2019 Standalone 10k was to make our race more sustainable and to reduce the impact it has on the environment. We’ve reviewed everything we do, what we use, how we use it and the potential environmental impact and this year we have made some changes in partnership with Transition Town Letchworth and Plastic Free Letchworth who have amazing knowledge in this area and have provided invaluable guidance.
Our main aim is to reduce the number of single use items we use as part of our event. For 2019 we have removed the need for 1600 single use cups in the finish area by hiring reusable cups and providing a dedicated place for runners to leave their water bottles in the finish area to pick up at the end of the race. We will also be replacing plastic tape with reusable tape (after using up any existing stocks of tape that we have) and bespoke NHRR bunting (which will look a lot prettier too!). Our t-shirts will not be packaged in plastic and will be delivered in cardboard boxes from our local supplier Kustom Clothing.
For the water station on the course, we will be using up our existing stocks of plastic cups (which will be recycled after the race) and biodegradable and compostable cups. We now know that this isn’t as great as we thought in the past because bioplastic cups can only be composted at high temperatures in an industrial compost facility that isn’t actually available locally, but for 2020 we will be looking into more sustainable options for our water station.
We are aiming to reduce the amount of waste send to landfill by the race and to recycle as much as possible. At race HQ on Standalone Farm, we will be providing more recycling opportunities with the introduction of recycling stations and we’ll have people on hand to help you to make sure your waste ends up in the right place. Our number supplier, Phillips Digital, is sourcing biodegradable paper to print the numbers on and food waste will be reduced by no longer having bananas in the finish area. The food vendors at Standalone Farm will all be local to reduce food miles and support the local economy and they will be offering a wide range of food options, including vegan food. We are also working closely with them to ensure they make the right environmental choices for their single use items as well as encouraging them to ensure that any food waste is recycled or passed on to other local organisations.
We know children love medals in the fun run so we haven’t removed them but have replaced the usual metal medals (which come from China) with wooden medals which are sourced from Italy but engraved in the UK so reducing the carbon footprint. And for the adult race, we are concentrating on cash prizes and trialling not having trophies to reduce the number of items we are introducing into the world as a result of our race.
And finally, we are replacing our blow up gantry which was powered by a petrol guzzling generator with a new aluminium gantry, reducing noise and emissions. We’re also moving to modern 4G radios for race communications meaning that we no longer need an aerial booster powered by a generator.
But we can’t do this alone, what can you do?
We’d like you to think about how you get to Standalone Farm on race day. If you live locally, please cycle to the farm, you'll arrive nicely warmed up and it is a great cool down after the race! We will be providing additional cycle racks on the farm, just follow the signs at race HQ. Or come on the train, Standalone Farm is just a 17 minute walk from Letchworth Garden City Train station on the London to Cambridge line. If a car journey is your only option, then please car share if possible. Not only is this more environmentally friendly but it will ease pressure on our car park.
On the farm, please bring along a water bottle for after the race (store it on the dedicated table in the finish area) and bring along your own cup for hot drinks on the farm. Finally, if you have any running gear that you no longer need then we are arranging a rerun clothing collection on race day. Simply bring along any running clothing (including trainers) you no longer need and we will send it to rerun clothing to save them from landfill.
2019 is just the start of our journey to make Standalone 10k more sustainable, next year we will be looking at t-shirts made from recyclable material or maybe even optional t-shirts, ensuring our single use cups on the water stations are made from recycled material amongst other things. Let us know what you think and what else we could do!
Our main aim is to reduce the number of single use items we use as part of our event. For 2019 we have removed the need for 1600 single use cups in the finish area by hiring reusable cups and providing a dedicated place for runners to leave their water bottles in the finish area to pick up at the end of the race. We will also be replacing plastic tape with reusable tape (after using up any existing stocks of tape that we have) and bespoke NHRR bunting (which will look a lot prettier too!). Our t-shirts will not be packaged in plastic and will be delivered in cardboard boxes from our local supplier Kustom Clothing.
For the water station on the course, we will be using up our existing stocks of plastic cups (which will be recycled after the race) and biodegradable and compostable cups. We now know that this isn’t as great as we thought in the past because bioplastic cups can only be composted at high temperatures in an industrial compost facility that isn’t actually available locally, but for 2020 we will be looking into more sustainable options for our water station.
We are aiming to reduce the amount of waste send to landfill by the race and to recycle as much as possible. At race HQ on Standalone Farm, we will be providing more recycling opportunities with the introduction of recycling stations and we’ll have people on hand to help you to make sure your waste ends up in the right place. Our number supplier, Phillips Digital, is sourcing biodegradable paper to print the numbers on and food waste will be reduced by no longer having bananas in the finish area. The food vendors at Standalone Farm will all be local to reduce food miles and support the local economy and they will be offering a wide range of food options, including vegan food. We are also working closely with them to ensure they make the right environmental choices for their single use items as well as encouraging them to ensure that any food waste is recycled or passed on to other local organisations.
We know children love medals in the fun run so we haven’t removed them but have replaced the usual metal medals (which come from China) with wooden medals which are sourced from Italy but engraved in the UK so reducing the carbon footprint. And for the adult race, we are concentrating on cash prizes and trialling not having trophies to reduce the number of items we are introducing into the world as a result of our race.
And finally, we are replacing our blow up gantry which was powered by a petrol guzzling generator with a new aluminium gantry, reducing noise and emissions. We’re also moving to modern 4G radios for race communications meaning that we no longer need an aerial booster powered by a generator.
But we can’t do this alone, what can you do?
We’d like you to think about how you get to Standalone Farm on race day. If you live locally, please cycle to the farm, you'll arrive nicely warmed up and it is a great cool down after the race! We will be providing additional cycle racks on the farm, just follow the signs at race HQ. Or come on the train, Standalone Farm is just a 17 minute walk from Letchworth Garden City Train station on the London to Cambridge line. If a car journey is your only option, then please car share if possible. Not only is this more environmentally friendly but it will ease pressure on our car park.
On the farm, please bring along a water bottle for after the race (store it on the dedicated table in the finish area) and bring along your own cup for hot drinks on the farm. Finally, if you have any running gear that you no longer need then we are arranging a rerun clothing collection on race day. Simply bring along any running clothing (including trainers) you no longer need and we will send it to rerun clothing to save them from landfill.
2019 is just the start of our journey to make Standalone 10k more sustainable, next year we will be looking at t-shirts made from recyclable material or maybe even optional t-shirts, ensuring our single use cups on the water stations are made from recycled material amongst other things. Let us know what you think and what else we could do!