Gazelle Girl Half Marathon organizers continue to maintain a zero-waste event by keeping trash away from landfills, this year achieving a 98 percent diversion rate. Every year, the Gazelle Girl Green Team invests in sustainability efforts and strives to be an example to other races by hosting an environmentally responsible event.
“Gazelle Girl values our community, and our team works hard to protect it by putting on a green event,” said Chelsea Brehm, Gazelle Girl Green Team Lead. “We’re grateful to our local partners that assist us in this important effort, and we’re proud of the hard work that contributed to the success of this year’s sustainability initiatives.”
The official weight slips from the City of Grand Rapids showed that a total of 980 pounds of recyclable items such as plastic jugs and water bottles were collected at the event. An additional 940 pounds of compostable items such as food waste, course cups, and Vivant cups were collected; and 15 pounds of GU packets and wrappers are being donated to Terracyle, which converts difficult-to-recycle materials into new products. This left only one, 37-pound bag of non-recyclable items such as Styrofoam cups, diapers, tablecloths, and heatsheets for the landfill.
This remarkable achievement was a fitting conclusion to the 2017 Gazelle Girl Half Marathon, which took place the day after Earth Day.
For more information, please visit:
http://gazellegirlhalfmarathon.com/zero-waste/