A few of the races I'm doing this summer have eliminated paper cups, instead forcing athletes to fill their bottles or will sell/provide them with collapsible plastic cups.
There are also some nutrition companies (gels/bars/etc.) that are begining to tout the use of non-GMO ingredients.

I, personally have begun to think about my use of single use plastics during training, and especially during a race.
It's easier to get ride of them during training, harder during the race.

The conversation is happening...

I believe the opportunity is growing.

Social Purpose / Sustainability has been a very big topic for us at PEARL iZUMi and we have some very significant goals in the near future.
At the moment we have a Social Purpose / Sustainability committee that is headed up by our Materials team but is cross-functional throughout the organization. This affects our materials choices, sourcing, manufacturing, packaging and even our internal practices at our office. (e.g. we do not have single-use containers and our recycling / compost program is quite robust).

I believe that other companies will continue to increase their sustainability practices and as such will need experts in these areas. In the beginning you may need to create your own opportunity, either by talking with companies and creating a position or working as a consultant across multiple companies.

For more information on our Social Purpose check out https://www.pearlizumi.com/...Izumi_Social_Purpose and also feel free to reach out through a private message.

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I talk a lot - Give it a listen: http://www.fasttalklabs.com/category/fast-talk
I also give Training Advice via http://www.ForeverEndurance.com

The above poster has eschewed traditional employment and is currently undertaking the ill-conceived task of launching his own hardgoods company. Statements are not made on behalf of nor reflective of anything in any manner... unless they're good, then they count.
http://www.AGNCYINNOVATION.com

The only way to be friendly to the environment is to not do sports. Doing sports is burning more energy than not, and thus is unfriendly by definition.

I have always wondered what has happened to non-repairable carbon fiber bikes? I know they can be repaired but what about the old shattered ones, can carbon fiber be recycled? Maybe see if you can apply your degree and ambitions to promoting recycling old carbon fiber bikes. Just an idea to work off of.

Well, you could look into ISO 20121:2012. I think it was developed for the London Olympics. Pretty easy to start applying existing sustainability standards to tris or other large events. Use portable solar-power generators for sound/music, local farms for post race food, mats leading to swim entry to prevent erosion, environmentally-friendly toilets, look into multi-occupant vehicle (carpool) opportunities, calculate Scope 1-3 GHG emissions and purchase offsets. The standard metrics: energy use/source, water use/quality, waste, transportation costs ($ and environmental), local community economic benefit, etc.

Find a way to recycle or re-use carbon fibre, especially the off cut prepreg that gets scrapped in the production phase.

Maurice

One thing that environmentally irks me in tri/cyclist work is those who drive to bike work outs. How about bike there!? Especially I see people who just live 4 miles away

I live 6-8 miles from the edge of my city regardless of the direction I go. Fighting lights and streets for the first 45 minutes isn't only a waste of my time but would certainly be the most dangerous part of that ride. I get the concern but I'd imagine most people do like me and just drive to get to a safer place to start.

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors

You're addressing some who thinks it's perfectly acceptable to jet half way around the world in hopes of finding weaker competition to qualify for the Kona Ironman. This also has the impact of depriving the local talent in other countries from going. It's kind of like globalism turning into colonialism.
Now if you could get them to race local and qualify local, that would reduce the environmental impact. Good luck.

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

I think it would be useful to know the environmental cost of a sport over the arc of a season or more:

One time purchases (bike, etc)
Less frequent supplies (tires, running shoes, etc)
Daily supplies (energy to power treadmill/trainer/heat pool; one-time use snacks and drinks; travel (or offset due to bike/run commuting))
Events (air/car travel, more one-time use snacks and drinks; takeout containers; one racer's portion of event power/supplies, etc)

What percent does each of these contribute? Where does it make sense to put the focus?

Sure, the most sustainable way to do anything is not to do it at all. There is a middle ground between being extremely wasteful and being a vegetable, and I applaud people for minimizing their footprint.

I admire your passion and efforts to redistribute wealth and opportunity from the robber Barron .90% fairly and equitably back to the peasant 1% underclass.

Maurice

There is always PLOGGING

I work for a company that's all about environmentalism. We manufacture equipment that recycles household waste and is able to divert over 90% from landfill. (That's twice as good as any real world source-separated recycling numbers.) At any rate, we try and do a number of triathlon- and running-related environmental tie-ins (major concerts and festivals, too). But sadly, we find that when it comes to making a REAL difference, promoters and product companies and participants aren't all that interested. It's too much trouble. They LOVE the marketing and PR potential of recycling event waste using our technology -- we can get them to 0% landfill on paper and concession and food waste. But it is very difficult to get an event to give up plastics or re-use tents and camping gear or use bicycles instead of motor vehicles to marshal a race. You would be shocked the tonnage of nearly new, easily reusable goods gets thrown into the trash at a major event. Clothing, camping gear, cook stoves, reusable water bottles, scooters, unopened food, coolers, electronics, etc., etc. And keep in mind that these are from events that are considered to be (and promote themselves as being) "environmentally conscious." They PREACH environmentalism with a loudspeaker at the same time they are trashing the place.

Environmentalism, at big sports and entertainment events, is all about marketing. It's about image, not reality. "Do what we say . . . don't look at what we do." If you can find a way to change that mindset, you will have performed a minor miracle. And you will have done a lot for the environment.

The OP was asking about impact to environment. My reply was based on that and not wealth. You turned it into something about wealth, as if the wealthy are exempt from their impact on the environment. Fallacy on your part.

I'm all for the wealthy, people who are able to take care of themselves and others. But just because one is wealthy doesn't make their actions wise or beyond question.

Also one doesn't have to be wealthy to travel these days. Not really wealthy. This struck a nerve with you lol

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

But there might be hills on the way to the trail.

We all are a members of Golden Billion. If the rest of the Earth population try to live like us: houses, cars, bananas brought to us on container ships, iPhones, etc, the planet quickly become a lifeless desert. If a member of the Golden Billion would like to improve environment, the most effective way is to commit suicide today.

PS. It's Friday, time for some Malthusian humor :)

So sit at home and zwift. The 45 min can be a warm up instead of waste of time. This is a habit-perception issue that can be easily fixed, rather than what others suggest here to go after carbon fiber bike industry

Some great questions. The environmental changes coming down the pike, especially in climate, will affect nearly every living thing on earth and, maybe most important, it is really going to affect us humans.

So, yes, I think it is relevant to look at the things we do (including sport) through the window of sustainability and conservation. From a personal level, for sure doing more races locally (rather than frequently flying to races) is probably a good thing.

Regarding working in the sport, many people that get involved in triathlon are also newbies to biking seriously. After being introduced to tri, some people start riding a lot more than they ever did previously, and some even start commuting by bike. So anything that can spread the triathlon lifestyle and can share it and spread it in a way so that people can understand that they can train and get very fit by actually integrating the training into their daily lives rather than always using fossil fueled transport. For example, for a while when I had an office job and wanted to get in more running, I ran to and from work every day (I combined the running with taking the subway). Even today, I get many of our parcels to the post by cycling and even running.

And then even for people that don't really incorporate human powered transport in to their daily life, any person that takes up tri (or any human-powered sport) is another person that is not doing a usually far more impactful motorized recreation during that time. And any person that does a sport that involves road cycling and running and trail cycling and running and open water swimming is far more likely to value all of the places that make those activities possible (wilderness, countryside, trails, parks, open spaces, lakes, rivers, oceans). Again, a good thing, because people who value places are far more likely to make efforts to protect them (even if it is just voting).

Finally, if you are ever involved in designing/making/selling a product (a bike, a shoe, a saddle, a handlebar, and/or nearly any bike or run accessory), any time you make a product that makes cycling or running easier, you're making it slightly better for someone to fall in love with exercise and incorporate a healthy activity into their lifestyle (and maybe even give up some fossil fueled transport). Even if you are making a high-end item that seems initially to be only focused on racing, even that is often a good thing because there is frequently a 'trickle-down' effect'. For example, aerobars were initially created for 'crazy' cyclists who were racing across america. Then the sport of triathlon further refined/improved the many designs of aerobars. Today, aerobars still allow riders to go fast, but in many cases they allow riders to rider further faster easier longer with more comfort and efficiency. Aerobars are no longer an elite cyclist speed-freak item, now they are an everyday cyclist comfort item.

And this is not even touching on how getting involved in endurance sport often improves the diets of participants, with many athletes by necessity and for performance benefits turning to a much great percentage of plant-base foods, which in turn has many many positive (and often huge) environmental impacts.

So, in almost any way that you can promote triathlon, if you take the right angle, there is a way to promote an environmental approach to sport and life. Hope this gets you thinking. Good luck!

Greg @ dsw

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Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA.
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When it comes to environmental impact and sports (especially triathlon), it's kind of like white collar crime. You're not going to find any litter on the highway to convict us with. lol

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.