Sun Run aims to be Canada's 'greenest' run
Credit to Author: Tiffany Crawford| Date: Mon, 02 Mar 2020 16:00:26 +0000
For nearly a decade, Green Chair Recycling has been providing waste management services for the Vancouver Sun Run, and last year the company almost reached its goal of diverting all waste from landfills.
The company says 5,000 kilograms of recyclable materials were sorted out from the garbage, resulting in a diversion rate of 97.4 per cent.
Kathleen Belton, an environmental consultant for Green Chair, said one of the main goals this year is to reduce materials.
She said the company works with the Sun Run and vendors to choose food and beverage options that do not have packaging or to ensure materials and beverage containers used at the event can be recycled.
She notes that any food that is not consumed is donated, and Green Chair staffs the 10 recycling stations to ensure that everything goes into the right boxes. Belton said there are always challenges, and zero waste is a very difficult goal to achieve.
“There is always room for improvement,” she said. “We work with likeminded vendors, helping them sort out materials. … The Sun Run has always been in line with us. They want to make an effort to be sustainable.”
In a report on the 2019 event, Green Chair notes that one the main challenges was the number of balloons used during the event.
“We cannot stress enough how destructive and deadly balloons can be to wildlife, especially when the event site is located so close to the water,” the report says.
Sun Run race director Tim Hopkins said the balloons at the start of the race are iconic. The environmental issue with balloons is that they sail off into the atmosphere and can end up harming wildlife, he said, but added that the balloons used at the Sun Run are collected and disposed of safely.
He said the diversion rate of more than 97 per cent from the landfill is impressive.
“We are an industry leader thanks to Green Chair. They are a great supplier as we continue to search for ways to have the least environmental impact as possible.”
Hopkins said they are working to figure out which products can’t be recycled, such as beverage containers or promotional materials, and then will switch to products that are organic or can be recycled properly.
For example, he said this year the promotional bag that participants receive will be cloth instead of a biodegradable plastic so it can be reused many times.
This year’s Vancouver Sun Run takes place on April 19.