By Safi Roshdy
I’ve been chasing marathons for while but not as a runner. I’ve been trying to figure out what can be done about the waste that is generated from these events. Recently I checked in at the latest Marathon and documented what every news outlet somehow fails to show: the amount of waste generated. I want to know why an event that is able to invest $100,000 in a winner, can also be party to such wastefulness?
As I arrived at a hydration station, I overheard a man giving a pep talk to a woman who was seated, gasping and sweating. He was trying to get her to get back on her feet to help her make it to the finish line. While I shot a video of the open and abandoned 3/4 full bottles and plastic waste littering the station, I heard a thump. I turned, and saw the woman had mustered the energy to get up and to let go of the almost full plastic bottle of water. She just dropped it and ran. The man was still there and as I looked their way, I noticed that he had his reusable bottle on him and was with his child. Who was going to clean up the mess? The man cheered more runners on. The thumps continued and the amount of bottles on the ground piled up.
Of course somebody would clean up; but I wonder we can’t figure out how to combat the use of so much single use plastic at an event where more than 50,000 people were expected to participate? We have to ask these questions because, while so many of us are busy challenging our physical resolve, more of us need to think about the knock-on effects. What happens to all the plastic wrapping from each of the medals won? The plastic and paper cups, the bottles, the left over (and wasted) water. Why do so many people go through so much trouble to make it through a marathon but won’t commit to living a less wasteful life? Does running a marathon absolve us from any sense of environmental responsibility? Knowing what we know now about the plastic waste problem, can we continue to turn a blind eye?