Muscle and nothing but muscle.
Nothing is greener than running… Well, not quite.
Because to put one foot in front of the other, you have to wear shoes, dress, refuel and above all transport yourself to the place of your future exploits.
All of this creates CO2 emissions and not just a little.
French researchers have calculated in a 2021 study the annual impact of the preparation and participation in the New York Marathon of a runner from Alfortville (Val-de-Marne), including, in particular, the four pairs of running shoes, the transatlantic flight and even the five extra showers required per week.
Result: an assessment of 4.3 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, knowing that a French person emits an average of 11 per year.
By removing the plane and therefore favoring events close to home or accessible by train, the carbon footprint drops to 0.73 tonnes, according to the same scientists.
And it is still possible to do less by choosing eco-responsible races, such as the Grand Paris Express on March 12, with which the next Ma Terre challenge is associated.
Wooden medals, eco-cups and city water
For example, here no distribution of plastic water bottles but eco-cups filled with drinking water from the city, then washed to be reused.
"It would be simpler and three times less to buy one and a half liter pallets and fill cups, but since the creation of the event, we have been trying to find solutions to limit our impact", explains Jérémy Larson , the co-founder of Playground, the organizer of the protest.
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Thus, the food supplies are provided by farmers in Greater Paris, and the final medal is no longer made of metal but of wood and contains a sunflower seed to be planted.
"We choose the starting points
(Place de la République in Paris for the 10 km and the Bois de Vincennes for the half-marathon)
so that they are accessible by public transport", notes Cécile Smadja, the manager. communication.
On the backstage side, come and "over-sort" to avoid waste
Another highly symbolic example: the renunciation of the jersey in the colors of his achievement of the day, a must at many sporting events.
The Grand Paris race no longer offers it with the registration fee.
“A souvenir T-shirt is useless, people have plenty of them at home.
The ones given to them in this type of event are very costly for the planet.
When you explain it, everyone understands,” continues Jérémy Larson.
For the record, a non-organic cotton T-shirt from China is worth less than 2 euros, but it is also 50 g of fertilizer, more than 150 liters of water, chemical dyes, electricity produced with coal and 10,000 km to bring it to your shoulders.
The 13,000 specimens that would have had to be made for all the participants would have generated 2.34 tonnes of CO2.
If you are less sporty, you also have the possibility of participating in the Ma Terre challenge behind the scenes, by joining the team of volunteers coached by the Aremacs association, the Association for the respect of the environment during cultural and sporting events. , responsible for limiting the mass of waste generated as much as possible.
This is particularly the case for bibs, whose electronic chips and paper will be recycled.
In 2022, this "over-sorting" made it possible to recycle more than 1,200 kg of waste, including 115 kg of bio-waste which, after collection and recovery, made it possible to produce 9 m3 of renewable gas, producing 104 kWh of green electricity, i.e. 69 heated showers and even 104 kg of agricultural fertilizer to grow 230 kg of potatoes!
Convenient
Location.
Fourth edition of the Course du Grand Paris on Sunday March 12 between the Place de la République and the Stade de France.
Please note that a medical certificate is mandatory.
Registration.
If you want to participate in the race, click here.
Forty free bibs are up for grabs through a contest as part of the challenge.
To join the "sur-tri" volunteer team, go to the "volunteers" tab of the La Grande Course website, then tick the box "Challenge Le Parisien/Ma Terre" then in the "tri-ecoactor logistics" assignments