All the News That’s Fit

FitPlanet tips it’s hat to De Soto for the announcement of its GreenGoma wetsuit. This is a significant step forward in the evolution of triathlon wetsuits. But perhaps the real meaning of the announcement is that it will raise awareness within the triathlon community about the materials we use to enjoy our sport. So much of what we wear is petroleum based. This has to change.

Here’s the De Soto release from January 3, 2012…

De Soto becomes the first triathlon company to offer an alternative to petroleum-based wetsuits.

San Diego, California – Until recently all triathlon wetsuits have been made of petroleum. First in the industry to introduce limestone rubber into triathlon wetsuits, all T1 Wetsuits incorporate this amazing GreenGoma™ technology.

GreenGoma™ rubber offers better stretch, buoyancy, durability, and insulation with a more closed-cell injected construction thus making it 98.9% water impermeable. So it is lighter, it dries quicker, and lasts longer. The only part of the rubber that gets wet is the new stretch liner that is now made of recycled post consumer products.

Is this rubber environmentally friendly? Is it a “green” wetsuit?

“We have seamlessly replaced one rubber with another that is better. It is more buoyant, it helps you swim faster, and it lasts longer. If nothing else were to change, we are selling a better-performing product with less detriment to the environment, which is always our goal,” says company founder, Emilio De Soto.

“This news has been months in the making and it is exciting to finally be able to announce it. It is very timely given the new year and our ongoing changes at our company to become more socially responsible, but lets be realistic. Both petroleum and limestone are nonrenewable resources and expend pollution and waste to refine into a finished product. So for anyone to claim that a limestone wetsuit is ‘green’ is just not true, at least not yet. The idea of trying to create a greener wetsuit has inspired us to change to recycled interior fabrics with no VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) dyes and adhesives. We are currently working with YKK to develop a wetsuit zipper made of recycled plastic bottles. For now, the most obvious form of sustainability is simply that we have created a wetsuit that will perform better and last longer. We feel this is a great beginning. Before any of us can swim 2.4 miles, we first need to get across the length of a pool. When it comes to making a greener triathlon wetsuit, we are the first to dive in.”

And here’s some additional information about ‘green’ surfing wetsuits from Patagonia. Another innovative company.

On November 22 at 4 pm London time, FitPlanet is teaming up with our friends at Active.com in the UK for a free one-hour webinar for European Race Directors on cost-effective strategies for greening your events.
Click here to join FitPlanet’s Chief Green Officer Bruce Rayner and FitPlanet’s European Senior Sustainability Consultant Toby Radcliffe for a presentation and discussion on the what, why and how of greening events.
The webinar is entitled “Going Green as a Business Strategy: How to minimize the cost and maximize the benefits.” We’ll discuss how to ensure that the green practices you implement are cost neutral. And we’ll explain how a comprehensive green program opens up opportunities for growing the event by attracting new participants and new sponsors.
Can’t make the live webinar? We’ll post the link to the archive version here when its available.
And thanks as always to Active for providing FitPlanet the opportunity to present and for supporting the greening of events.

FitPlanet is excited to be participating in the U.S. EPA’s FREE live webinar:
Creating Winning Recycling Programs at Sporting Events
This Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 1-2:30 East Coast US time.

It’s part of the EPA’s Sustainable Materials Management Web Academy Series.

Click here Register

Here’s a brief descriptor…
Carrying out a routine recycling program at a stadium or other sporting venue can be challenging enough. Creating a winning recycling program at a temporary, large, multi-venue, community-wide sporting event can test even the most experienced sustainability professionals.

This webinar will provide basic principles for setting up a multifaceted program beyond the venue site such as “spill over” public space, pedestrian areas, event hotels, team restaurants and even outdoor event spaces such as streets or plazas. Real world case studies will be presented by panelists with experience in planning and executing recycling and waste management programs at such events.

Moderator: Briana Bill, Greening Coordinator, U.S. EPA – Chicago

Speakers:
Jacob Hassan, Community Recycling Coordinator in the US EPA
Chicago’s Materials Management program

Mark Root, Strategic Account Executive, Coca-Cola Recycling

Bruce Rayner, Chief Green Officer with Athletes for a Fit Planet

Laura Moreno, Environmental Scientist in U.S. EPA Pacific Southwest Region’s Pollution Prevention and Solid Waste program

FitPlanet hopes you can join us for the webinar and we encourage you to invite others to join as well!

Saturday October 15, Exeter NH – It was a very windy day for the inaugural Krempels King of the Road Challenge charity bike ride but that didn’t deter local elite cyclists from turning out en masse to support the cause. FitPlanet was on hand to green the event.
Pro rider Ted King, of the Liquigas-Cannondale cycling team, and Arlon Chaffee of Loco Sports organized the ride to raise money for the Krempels Center, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of people living with brain injury. Joining Ted to lead the ride was brother Robbie King and Liquigas teammate Tim Duggan. Check out an article about the two cyclists and their connection to the Krempels Center here.
Among the few hundred cyclists in the peloton were cycling legend Lyne Bessette and pro triathletes Jarrod Shoemaker and Sarah Groff. Sarah has been named to the 2012 US Olympic team, which will mark a second appearance for her at the Games. And 2008 Olympian Jarrod was named the US Triathlon Elite Race Series Champion earlier this month. The US men’s triathlon Olympic team will be announced next May.

FitPlanet is delighted to be continuing our relationship with USA Triathlon and support their efforts to produce sustainable events. In 2012, all USAT National Championship races are taking the FitPlanet Pledge of Sustainability.
In 2011, USA Triathlon’s Collegiate and Age Group National championships both took the Pledge and earned verification. Check out the Green Events Calendar for all races and events that have taken the Pledge – both upcoming and past events.

Below is the USAT press release announcing the relationship…

SEPTEMBER 25, 2011, COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — USA Triathlon announced today that it has renewed its partnership with official supplier Athletes for a Fit Planet, which recently verified the National Governing Body’s Pledge of Sustainability for the 2011 USA Triathlon Age Group and Sprint National Championships, held Aug. 20 in Burlington, Vt.
A leading provider of environmental services to organizers of athletic events across North America, including multisport, running and cycling events, Athletes for a Fit Planet is the official sustainability services provider to USA Triathlon, and will now serve as a USA Triathlon official supplier and GoGreen partner through 2012.
As outlined in this new agreement, Athletes for a Fit Planet will provide environmental consulting and support to all of USA Triathlon’s owned national championship events.
As a key part of this partnership, USA Triathlon has taken the FitPlanet Pledge of Sustainability, which provides event organizers with official certification for taking steps to become more environmentally responsible. The Pledge requires that an event meet a minimum of 10 out of a possible 28 eco-practices to qualify. USA Triathlon aims to meet these sustainability requirements for each of its owned national championship events through 2012.
USA Triathlon took the FitPlanet Pledge of Sustainability for last month’s Age Group and Sprint Nationals and successfully implemented 12 green practices at the event to earn verification from Athletes for a Fit Planet. Eco-practices at the Age Group and Sprint Nationals included elimination of paper registration, recycled polyester technical race T-shirts for athletes and recyclable race bags. Visit afitplanet.com for the full list of eco-practices implemented at this year’s Age Group and Sprint Nationals.
Earlier this year, the 2011 USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championship earned verification of the FitPlanet Pledge of Sustainability after implementing a number of eco-practices. Visit afitplanet.com for more information on the eco-practices implemented at 2011 Collegiate Nationals.

I got a Not-So-Happy New Year’s email the other day from a friend of mine, Doug Woodring, who was writing from the beautiful Indonesian island of Lombok. Doug’s a competitive open-water swimmer and event organizer. Here’s a paragraph from his email…

I was out enjoying a New Year’s Day swim in Lombok Straight, which separates the Indian Ocean and the Java Sea between the islands of Lombok and Bali. It’s far from civilization in what should have been beautiful pristine waters. But half way through my swim I hit a flotilla of plastic trash, a rude reminder of our consumerist disposable culture. It really makes you wonder what we are doing to ourselves.

Doug actually knows a thing or two about “what we are doing to ourselves.” In addition to being a water man, he’s the cofounder of Project Kaisei and founder of Ocean Recovery Alliance, two organizations dedicated to research and education about the environmental consequences of throw-away plastics in our waterways and oceans.

They might be out of sight and out mind after we chuck them, but all that plastic doesn’t just disappear. What doesn’t get recycled (only about 10% of the total) either ends up in a landfill or blows around on land or sea. “When it hits the ocean, only about 30% of it floats. The other 70% sinks to the bottom,” says Doug.

How long does it take plastics to biodegrade? Perhaps 1,000 years. On the bottom of the ocean, perhaps much longer as there’s no light – maybe 100,000 years. The sad truth is that no one knows for sure as modern plastics have only been around for about 60 years.

There’s not an ocean on earth that is not impacted. The North Pacific Gyre between California and Hawaii has a huge floating garbage pile weighing over 3 million tons, according to one estimate. Most of the trash came from land – either Asia or North America. There are six other known tropical oceanic gyres in the world. And researchers are finding plastics in marine life everywhere on the planet, from resin trapped inside the bodies of jellyfish and other filter-feeders to flotsam in the guts of whales, sea otters, turtles, and just about every other form of marine life. It’s everywhere.

As awareness grows, countries are starting to take action. Italy just banned the use of disposable plastic bags nationwide. China did the same thing way back in June 2008. We dispose of about 500 billion plastic bags annually worldwide.

As swimmers, triathletes and generally concerned citizens we can make a difference. If you’re a race director, consider using something other than plastic water and sports-drink bottles. If you’re an athlete, carry a reusable stainless bottle and reusable coffee mug. Use reusable bags for shopping. If you must use plastic, make sure you recycle it.

And the next time you’re swimming in open water, stay alert. You don’t know what kind of nasty manmade junk you’ll run into out there.

Goodbye 2010, hello 2011! It’s Resolution Time. Time to make amends for all that holiday cheer and excess you’ve been enjoying the last few weeks (or months) and get back on the straight and narrow.
So what’s it going to be this year: Post a 10K PR, win your age group at the local Olympic-distance triathlon, run a 5k or a marathon? Whatever your self-improvement resolution, how about complementing it with an environmental-improvement resolution? Here are just a few options consider that fit an active lifestyle:

Volunteer. Many races are creating a new category of volunteers, typically called Green Teams, who’s duty is to help with recycling and composting. Most of the waste a race creates — and it can be significant – is either recyclable or compostable. So if it’s done well, the Green Team can create a zero-waste event. Imagine that! If your local race doesn’t have a Green Team, email the race director and get one started.

Do a trash run. If you are a member of a running or triathlon club propose that once a month or once a quarter the training run is designated as a trash run. If you’re not in a club, then do a trash run on your own. Be sure to wear gloves. I use an old baby stroller with a trash bin strapped in. You’ll be surprised how much trash you collect.

Ride your bike. Leave the car at home next time you need to go to the store and take the bike instead. If you have an old mountain bike, add fenders and panniers and you’ll be all set. You might want to consider commuting to work every now and then as well. It’s a great stress reliever after a tough day at the office. While cycling requires more time and planning than the car, the impact on the environment, your health, and your wallet can be significant.

Bring your own bottle. Most road races and triathlons use paper cups at the aid stations to dispense water and sports drinks. But this creates a big mess on the road, not to mention the wasted water and sticky sports drink that you spill down your front. Instead of using cups, consider the BYOB option. Some races are integrating dispensers for BYOB runners to use at the aid stations.

Just say “No” to the T-shirt. If you’re a regular competitor, then no doubt you have a closet full of old (and often ugly) race t-shirts that you’ve never worn. So next time you pick up your race packet at registration tell them you don’t want the shirt. Some races are starting to offer the opt-out option in the online registration. Others are donating all the refused t-shirts to charity.

Recycle your shoes. If you’re a regular runner, you probably go through a pair of training shoes every two or three months. And like the t-shirts, you’re closet is full of retired running shoes. So the next time you’re heading to your local running store check that they have a recycling bin and bring your old shoes. Also, a growing number of races are offering shoe recycling too.

Here’s wishing you a healthy and sustainability New Year!

Share your Eco-Resolution.

By MCM Green Team Member Christopher Stephens

You’ve done your training, you’ve been good to the environment by not using too many plastic bottles, you have recycled your old running shoes, and the socks on your feet are organic wool. Good for you! There’s one last way you can make your Marine Corps Marathon experience greener, and that is getting to the race in the greenest way possible.

If you are coming from out of town, you probably have your travel plans set. If you live in California and are coming to a race in DC, flying is probably your only realistic option. In that case you can offset your carbon emissions. If you live closer to the race and were planning to drive, perhaps you might want to consider another form of transportation.

I don’t own a car (I live in Manhattan, ‘nuff said), and renting a car in New York is extraordinarily unpleasant as well as breathtakingly expensive. So no driving for me. I could fly, but again, the cost is prohibitive, the time savings are marginal, and the hassle factor is high. Taking the train would be more convenient and less expensive, but for even less money, I can take the bus.

On many routes, intercity buses have shed their lowest common denominator reputation, and they are genuinely pleasant to ride: extra legroom, free wi-fi, and convenient express schedules. Personally, I use BoltBus, which even gives me frequent “flyer” points. And the fares? I’m getting from New York to DC for less than $40 round-trip.

What does this have to do with the environment? It turns out that riding the bus also has the lowest carbon footprint. For details, check this article. According to this writer, the only greener way to get to DC from New York is to drive a Prius.

What about once you get to Washington? There is really only one answer, which is again practical, affordable, and green: take the Metro. If you’re worried about using a subway for your first time on race morning, try a practice run by taking the train to the expo to pick up your number. The WMATA website has all the information you need.

As someone who lived in Washington for a number of years I had plenty of opportunity to observe out-of-towners use Metro for the first time. So let me offer two pieces of advice. First, you need to use your farecard both getting into the station as well as to get out at your destination, so keep it handy. Second, and most important, on the long escalators, stand on the right and let people walk past on the left. Nothing annoys locals more than tourists blocking the escalators. There’s even a snarky website to that effect: http://howtouseanescalatorindc.com/

Finally, remember that by running the Marine Corps Marathon, you are seeing the nation’s capital in the greenest way possible by using human power. Have a great race!

By MCM Green Team Member Christopher Stephens

In my last post I discussed the green aspects of running shoes. I hope that you are training in something more than just shoes, so time to consider the rest of your running gear. Of course, the greenest clothes are the ones you don’t have to go out and buy (remember: reduce, reuse, recycle). Still, clothes wear out, or you might not have something in your closet that is appropriate for at 26.2 mile run. So, like shoes, remember that clothes also have a life cycle.

What should you buy? Think organic, and think recycled. There are plenty of resources for running clothes that are designed to keep you cool and dry during your run, known as “technical” gear. However, you can do even better by finding technical gear that is made from something better than your average polyester.

Shirts: At a Marine Corps Marathon expo a few years ago, I met the people who run Atayne. Their shirts are made from recycled plastics (i.e., old soda bottles), as well as recycled cotton and other eco-friendly materials. They are great folks, and they even sponsor “trash runs”, which involve both running and picking up litter, a very literal way of combining running and being good to the environment. Lately, I have been wearing a fleece made by Earthtec, also from old soda bottles, and I have been pleased with its performance. Other, more mainstream companies are starting to include lines of shirts made from recycled polyester as well – I noticed that even Under Armor has started to market some clothing made from recycled materials.

Shorts: I have found fewer offerings for shorts made from recycled materials, though honestly I can’t see why. For the marathon, if everything goes according to plan, I will be wearing a pair of shorts from Patagonia. Instead of offering a line of clothing that is green, this company has been working towards making their entire operation green. One way that stands out is by taking back clothing for recycling and turning it into new clothes. In other words, not only are the clothes you buy from them made of recycled materials, they can continue to stay out of the waste stream even after you have worn them out.

Socks: another favorite company of mine is Teko, which makes socks from recycled polyester as well as organic wool. Wool, unlike the oil from which polyester is derived, is a sustainable, renewable resource. It is better on your feet than cotton, and easier on the environment.

Laundry: Finally, a word on taking care of your running gear. While my fellow Green Team blogger wrote about not needing to launder your clothes after each wearing, you will need to wash your clothes at some point. In the past I have been disappointed by detergents that claim to be easy on the environment. Typically, I found that they may be gentle on the earth, but they’re also gentle on the dirt, leaving it exactly where they found it on my clothes. Recently, I tried a laundry detergent from Method, which seems to do the trick, while not polluting the water supply. I was also happy to learn that your conventional liquid fabric softener can be replaced by, yes, white vinegar, which is cheaper and has less impact on the environment. I had read about this trick for years but did not dare try it until I saw my mother using it. My mother has extremely high standards, and if it is good enough for her, it is good enough for me. Sure enough, it leaves my clothes soft and, no, not smelling of vinegar. Try it.