Not heard of that (the potato starch packets). I guess big events like IM/Roth could use reusable cups each year…or is that hygiene/H&S?
I’ve volunteered a couple of times at IM Oz (Forster) way back in the day, and we use to to wash the bottles that were thrown down and re-fill and hand back out. We had a hose, tap and washing station.
Nobody died!
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Yeah but you can bet half of these people wouldn’t do it from their own doorstep, so they won’t do it at all. I’d rather people were doing something.
In all my married (twice) life, it’s only in the last year we have added a 2nd car to our family. My main car is 14years old and I find the obsession with having a new car every three years and the resources thrown at making one, far outweighs some people driving around to do something that keeps them healthy.
I did wonder about driving to events. Years ago, I used to catch the train to the odd fell race, partially cos I wanted to be green (but when I read about the efficiency of empty trains and buses hmmmmmmmm) and partially cos I used to like to get pissed straight after a race, ah, the good old days. Talking of which two quick anecdotes… years ago after completing the 1/2 X I drove (DROVE!) back to the Badger Bar at Ambleside and drank 8 pints of beer - let’s just say that the rest of the week’s recovery was interesting. Another time I did I think Wensleydale, got home to Hebden B, went to my local, drank 2 pints of water and 5 pints of ale then needed my fist pee since the tri… yikes.
I guess as long as an electric car is solar powered or wind or other bobbins, then maybe that’s ok?
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Agreed, overall I think the net benefits to health (and knock on to NHS etc) outweigh negatives.
having said that, I’ve also noticed the increase in “Parkrun Tourism” which seemed to start with people doing a local Parkrun when they were on holiday or similar, but now there seems to be a trend to do as many different ones as possible and people are driving significant distances just for that purpose. My local running club have been running a challenge this year to a do a Parkrun starting with every letter of their name for example.
We’re so close to being able to go back to one car, but our village location and two kids means that there is always an instance where 2 are needed at the same time. I put about £40/month Unleaded in the car (~half tank), it’s a 3L so you can imagine how little mileage it actually covers nowadays!
Yeah I got no issue with two cars. It’s replacing them on high rotation which i think does some damage. The amount of plastic in a new car is mind boggling.
I can be accused of being a hypocrite on this as well, as I used to change bikes (and kit) fairly regularly. nowadays I just makes things last and last as much as I can, both economically and environmentally.
I do it with household things as well, I’m much more of a fix rather than replace person now. The other benefit is that it teaches you how things work.
I don’t feel overly guilty one way or the other, just change a few habits here and there. I use far too many baby wipes around the bikes though.
I have a pair of Assos bibs that are 11 years old; although I can barely stand-up straight in them now 
Conversely, the Spesh SL Pro bibs I have, the elastic in the braces has pretty much died a death after 2.5 years.
Old bibs are great for turbo duties, or on the mtb with some baggies over the top.
Something else I thought of. If you have a Park Tool chain cleaner, when they get all gunked and beyond cleaning, you don’t have to replace them, you can get a refurb kit for about £6. I didn’t know this until a few mths ago.
@FatPom you’re exactly right. It’s about making things last. There are all the stories of “when I was young” and it’s awful to dredge them up but there was an article in the paper this weekend about the average number of trainers a kid has these days. I had 2 - the school pair and the other pair. And I treasured it when I got new ones. It’s the throwaway culture which is killing us.
And @gingerbongo comment about the education - even the difference between France and UK in levels of recycling education is immense. But then within the UK it’s vastly different. Cumbria has completely segregated curbside pickup of recyclable items - Warrington has 2 bins for each household and the 3rd one for garden refuse has a subscription payment and is only collected 5 months of the year.
I get what extinction rebellion are trying to do but the levels of hypocrisy is what really bugs me. The generation demonstrating are my or my siblings age and all brought up kids between 95 and 2010 and relied on disposable nappies, baby wipes, individually packaged food, the growth of the bottled water industry, etc etc. We can all do our bit but we must also all admit our culpability not just point fingers.
Back to triathlons - we don’t need ‘goody bags’, we just need value for money and a cheery local event. T-shirts and medals are contentious - at Birchwood 10km this year we got t-shirts from recycled material and wooden medals, not sure if that improved anything but it was a decent effort.
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Isn’t the issue with kid’s clothes/shoes that they grow out of them; although our 5yr old wrecks his trainers before they can be handed-down to any friend’s kids. Our 9yr old actually just wears her trainers to school at the moment, doesn’t even wear traditional school shoes; luckily the school aren’t bothered about footwear uniformity!
Do we really need ‘gizzits’ from most events; I’ve started using my 113 finisher shirts as rags, I have so many of them! Don’t need a medal either - I would imagine that’s how most people feel after they’ve done a few events?
I do like a nice mug though, and the Cotswold 226 ones were amazing; handmade in small numbers!
The article was pointing out how many trainers a child has at 1 time. The idea being that you replace your child’s footwear as they grow out of them, you don’t buy 5 pairs for all 5 to be grown out of and barely used just because ‘that’s what all the kids are wearing’
Edit: the article has a pay wall but a quote is “1 in 10 teenagers have more than 10 pairs of trainers” - the study was carried out by Global Action Plan
I think that’s where RDs need to offer the option. Serial eventers won’t want/need all the tat that comes with races. Do they still give crappy goody bags with like a single flapjack, event flyers, one gel, that kind of rubbish?!
Some people though do put a lot of stock into the medals and tshirts, some getting very flappy around the subject.
I must admit i bought a load of energy product in sachets for my race, as it’s much easier to transport and use. But then for training, i would try to buy the bulk versions, if available, and decant as necessary.
I’m working with some of the world’s leading academics, scientists and policy influencers on topics like circular economy etc and it’s just a minefield. Nothing is a simple as it seems, though certain ideas - like plastic straws - just seem to gather momentum. There’s often a downside to the alternatives, they’re just not always fully assessed/balanced/understood.
London Marathon this year used edible seaweed membranes for the water pouches at lots of the later stops. Sustainable production of the seaweed too.
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I dont want medals from small events, but who defines small to each person. Likewise fliers understandable to bring sponsorship to keep events alive so its all compromises.
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Good point, but learning from mistakes should be applauded too. As said before about China etc cant blame people for lack of knowledge/different cultures, instead on how people respond once there is the awareness.
GB, back in Oz, I used to use Hammer nutrition all the time (harder to get in UK). They used to offer a large bottle of gel that you could then put into a small flask. I’m a huge fan of gel flasks on the bike but never think to use one for running. Not sure why?
I don’t have an issue with medals, people like them. I have a larger problem with real cheap cotton t-shirts, as the amount of water used to produce them is immense.
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Definitely agree with this. It’s like when my parents talk down about my parenting choices with helpful comments like ‘health & safety gone mad, or ‘back in our day you survived without X or Y’ back in my day we didn’t have X and you turned out alright’ etc etc
Yeah, well seatbelts in cars probably weren’t invented when you first started driving, does that mean we shouldn’t bother using them any more because you’re still alive? !
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Sure, but if one were to extrapolate that, then the world car industry would go bankrupt, hundreds of thousands unemployed in the UK at the very least and the money to fund electric car R&D would disappear.
Greta and the crusties want cars stopped now, immediately, but have zero answer as to what to do with the hundreds of thousands of people who would lose their jobs.