Eco-Running: leaving the route better than you found it.
26-year old Samuel Huber started what he calls “eco-running” as a way to help the world while out doing his favorite thing, running. On his eco-runs, he carries a few small garbage bags and picks up litter all along the route. Recently, he has made the switch to biodegradable, compostable BioBags. Check out his website and mention of BioBags and this blog, Fake Plastic Fish, at http://eco-runner.blogspot.com. I want to not only commend him for his efforts but join in the eco-running movement he’s trying to start.
So, this morning, BioBag in hand and latex gloved, I did a 30-minute eco-run towards Berkeley and back. My bag was full within the first 12 minutes, and I found I needed to stop picking up big things and concentrate on the items that, if washed down a storm drain, could end up inside the bellies of marine animals: bottle caps, small toys, a comb, a pacifier, plastic bags, even a rubber glove.
Stopping to pick up garbage slowed me down a bit (my average pace was 11:20/mile) and actually got me out of competition mode, the mode I tend to be in while recording my stats with the Nike+ iPod. You know, I’ll bet running would be a lot more fun if I gave up the Nike+. But I don’t know. The accountant in me wants all numbers all the time! (What, you couldn’t tell that from my weekly plastic tally?) Chi Running’s Danny Dreyer recommends leaving the watch at home. Maybe I’ll try it once a week on my eco-runs.
And yes, if you’re wondering, it was a little weird passing people as I ran carrying a garbage bag and wearing a latex glove. But at this point in life, I’m pretty much over caring about how I seem to other people. (Actually, I think I stopped caring by the end of high school, but that’s a story for another day and another blog.)
So, what to do with all the trash I collected? My plan is to retrieve the hard plastic bottle caps and other pieces of plastic, wash them off, and add them to my collection. I have this idea that I’ll use them in some kind of weird art creature thing some day. Then, any recyclable items will go in their proper recycling bins, and I’ll tie up the bag around the rest and put it in the garbage can. I may be saving 100% of my own plastic waste, but I’m not about to start hoarding other people’s.
hey guys…i did that too today..felt so good to clean up a bit while running…people were looking weirdly with all the plastic bottles in my hand …but some one has to start…right !!!! cheers and keep it up
Anonymous, I do agree that I can reuse the biodegradable bag if it’s not full. Here are the reasons that I disagree with the rest of your comment:
1) There are many other uses for plastic garbage bags than putting them in a landfill. They can be reused many times as bags. And once they are worn out as bags, they can be made into many different objects (like knitted fake plastic fish or more useful things like baskets and totes.)
2) While plastic bags do not biodegrade, they will degrade in a landfill, especially in contact with other toxic chemicals. They degrade into smaller and smaller plastic particles that can leach from the landfill into the surrounding soil. And yes, all landfills do leak. The EPA allows a maximum amount of leakage from all landfills. A corn-based bag, on the other hand, is not going to degrade into something harmful to the soil. Plastic does not belong in landfills.
3) I would not just drop loose plastic items into my household garbage bin without tying it up in a bag because that is the way to send it flying back out into the street and down the storm drains. You should see the way the trucks collect our garbage. The bins are lifted by mechanical arms and dumped roughly into the truck with small, lightweight refuse often flying back out into the street and left there.