The Banff Marathon continues to be considered the “Greenest Marathon on the Planet” and will work hard in 2019 to retain this honour. The 2018 event, with the assistance of SustainDriven, the Sustainability Committee and many incredible sustainability partners, implemented and managed 11 very successful green strategies including diverting 100% of its waste from landfill – no garbage produced! The strategies, which will again be used in 2019, are as follows:
- Waste Diversion from Landfill (Towards Zero Waste) – 100% in 2018!
- Carbon Neutral! Offset all Global Greenhouse Gases
- Green Energy
- Purchasing and Procurement Guidelines
- Education and Engagement
- Environmental and Wildlife Mitigation
- Banff National Park Stewardship
- Roam Transit and Responsible Transportation
- Virtual Event Bag
- Bio Digestible Water Cups
- “Sustainability Village” in the Health and Fitness Expo
Banff Marathon Media Release
Banff, Alberta, Canada – June 25th , 2018
The Banff Marathon Sets New Industry Record
Once thought Unachievable, the Banff Marathon Produces No Garbage
The results are in and the Banff Marathon has achieved its ultimate goal of diverting an incredible 100% of its waste from the landfill! This achievement is unprecedented in the endurance event industry.
The Banff Marathon went to extensive measures to accomplish this goal over the course of 3 days of programs which involved 10,000 participants and family members participating in a two-day Health and Fitness Expo, a Kids Run, and race day which included a Marathon, Half Marathon and 10K on June 17 th . The goal was achieved through extensive pre-event education with stakeholders, suppliers and participants along with a team of staff and volunteers led by SustainDriven that sorted all waste while educating participants at the same time.
In 2016, the event produced 1043 pounds of waste and diverted 98%. In 2017, the event took a significant step reducing the total waste to 754.5 pounds while diverting 99% from landfill. This year, waste was further reduced to 709.5 pounds with all 100% being recycled!
Not only is the event one of the most stunningly beautiful running events on the planet, the Banff Marathon also lays claim to being the “Greenest Marathon in the World” and has 11 other Sustainability Programs including offsetting all greenhouse gasses to be carbon neutral, purchasing only green electrical power from renewable sources, free mass local transportation for participants, families and volunteers on environmentally friendly ROAM bussing – even the cups the participants drink from are biodegradable from annually renewable corn – and many more successful sustainability programs.
More about SustainDriven
SustainDriven is an innovative provider of environmental consulting and event operations that integrates world-class front-end and mid stream project consulting to execute sustainable water, waste, global green house gas and energy solutions. These actions, when integrated in an overall operations plan makes a facility, business, event or construction project attain “most sustainable in its class” level of accreditation. More info: sustaindriven.com