USGP makes BIG difference by going Zero Waste!

Thanks to the US Gran Prix of Cyclo-Cross Series organizers, Crank Brothers, CLIF BAR, and Eco-Cycle, the inaugural Zero Waste effort for the national 'cross series was a big success, and made quite a difference for the environment.

In addition to educating racers and fans about recycling and composting and putting the concept out there that it is possible to organize and participate in major events with a minimal impact on the environment, the statistics clearly show what a difference Zero Waste events can have:

Overall diversion rate: 79.5% --> almost 80% of the total materials collected at all the events was kept out of landfills thanks to reuse, recycling, and composting.

Resources Saved: 4.8 trees, 2,078 kilowatt hours of energy, 1,915 gallons of water and diverted 11,715 pounds of compostable materials from the landfill.

Zero Waste results for Portland USGP

It was a cold, wet, and windy weekend in Portland Dec. 1-2 for the final round of the US Gran Prix Series, but that didn't stop Jen and the team from pulling off another successful Zero Waste event. Special thanks to Robert from 1-800-Got-Junk for taking care of hauling our recyclables to the recycling facility and our compostables to the compost facility.

Thanks to all the eco-friendly folks in Portland, the weekend achieved the highest diversion rate of the USGP Series!

Diversion Rate: 83%
Resources Saved: 1.8 trees, 535.5 kilowatt hours of energy, 493 gallons of water and diverted 1350 pounds of compostable materials from the landfill.

Cody Cox and his School Visit

Today, Tuesday, the third of December 2007, I had the great pleasure of doing my first school visit. I decided to visit my old elementary school of which I have had many great experiences. I met with my old counselor and second grade teacher to discuss what class would be appropriate. It was decided that I would do the 5 grade class. I also arranged with the P.E. teacher, who is amazing, to do a recycling type relay with the kids. Following this activity they met with me in the media center. I put together a great slideshow so the kids could all see what I was talking about. At first I discussed who I was and then progressed into the sport of cyclocross. I also talked about our team as a developing focus and also its strong environmental mission. We discussed the barriers and running sections and shifted into the bike which I brought with me. The kids were fascinated with the bike; half my time there was explaining it and especially the SRAM Double Tap shifters, which they thought were awesome. I then discussed the importance of leaving a “green” world and what they can to do help. I mentioned that Hummers were not a great thing to own and that new great options are being developed such as hybrids. I also discussed the strong importance of recycling and to a good surprise, the school recycles pretty much everything, so the kids were very responsive on that subject. I also talked about composting and how they could do it. They really were fascinated by it. At the end I did some questions and answered them. One question was if I had ever heard of Team Health Net. I was shocked to hear a fifth grader ask me about that. It turns out his dad is the team physician, which was really cool. I told the kid he should start doing this sport, and he already does. He did the junior division at the two local cross races here in town. Looks like our team can add another great member!