jhanscom posted on November 14, 2007 06:33
November 12, 2007 (Saratoga Springs, NY) – Through partnerships with the series sponsors Clif Bar and Crank Brothers, organizers of the US Gran Prix of Cyclocross presented by Crank Brothers have successfully taken steps to make the series as environmentally friendly as possible with the goal of making each event ‘Zero Waste.’
The goal of ‘Zero Waste’ is to divert as much solid waste as possible from landfill or incineration through recycling and composting efforts.
At each event in the six-race series, USGP organizers providing support and mechanisms onsite to reduce the amount of trash produced. At each event, there are multiple stations for recycling and composting with directional signs letting spectators know which items go in each station.
At the first series event in Louisville the zero waste efforts yielded a 75.6% diversion rate which translates to saving 2 trees, 918 kilowatt hours of energy, 846 gallons of water, and diverting 3900 pounds of compost materials from the landfill. Even with more than 5,000 spectators over the two day weekend, the Louisville event yielded just 12 bags of trash.
“The US Gran Prix of Cyclocross is the premiere ‘cross series in the US but our goal is to also take a leadership role in making our events environmentally sustainable through our ‘Zero Waste’ implementation,” said Bruce Fina, Executive Director, US Gran Prix of Cyclocross. “Clif Bar and Crank Brothers have done a tremendous job of helping to drive this initiative and we have received tremendous support from each municipality on our Zero Waste efforts.
“Clif Bar is proud to join the US Gran Prix organizers, Crank Brothers and Eco-Cycle in the effort to reduce the waste generated by the USGP events,” said Dylan Seguin, Clif Bar. “Once the Zero Waste system is in place and folks are making the effort to reduce, recycle & compost it’s eye-opening how much waste can truly be eliminated. It’s great to see athletes and an event like the USGP working together on a sustainability effort like this.”
Team Clif Bar’s Ben Turner added, “Zero Waste is a core belief of Team Clif Bar’s "sustainable cycling" mission. Louisville really embraced the Zero Waste idea and helped us achieve a 75% diversion rate -- meaning only 25% of the total waste generated ended up in the landfill.”
USGP of Cyclocross presenting sponsor Crank Brothers is extremely supportive of the efforts being made by the Series and Team Clif Bar.
"We are thrilled to see that both the Series that we support and Team Clif Bar have taken such a leadership role in this area,” said Christina Orlandella, Crank Brothers. “Crank Brothers is supporting this effort by donating the first $2,000 in sales of Crank Brothers merchandise at the USGP to offsetting the cost of implementing this Zero Waste initiative."
The Zero Waste efforts will also be implemented in the next two stops of the USGP – Mercer County, NJ and Portland, OR.
"Mercer County Improvement Authority is proud to be a partner in the Zero Waste initiative of the US Gran Prix of Cyclocross,” said Phillip Miller, Executive Director, Mercer County Improvement Authority. “This innovative program complements what we are implementing across Mercer County to reduce the amount of waste and increase recycling/composting programs across the county."
About the US Gran Prix of Cyclocross presented by Crank Brothers
The US Gran Prix of Cyclocross presented by Crank Brothers kicked off October 27 – 28 in Louisville, Kentucky with the Papa John’s Derby City Cup presented by Toyota. The second stop will be the USGP Mercer Cup presented by Knapp’s Cyclery in West Windsor, NJ on November 17-18. The series will then return to Portland, Oregon for the fourth consecutive year for the Toyota Portland Cup on December 1-2.
The U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross presented by Crank Brothers (USGP) is the Official National Cyclocross Team Selection Series of USA Cycling. For more information on the USGP, visit www.usgpcyclocross.com.