This is a personal note to help improve a particular aspect of race day that's become more glaring in the light of current environmental awareness. Consider this a personal contribution to help our sport become more green on the occasion of Earth Day.

As an ordinary competitor (i.e., amateur, not pro, nor elite, nor even respectably good) participating in the usual share of races (triathlons, duathlons, runs, bike rides, adventure races, etc.), I used to never really consider the habit of discarding used race aids on the race course: empty cups, empty gels, empty candy wrappers, empty fruit skins, along with the assorted slew of paper towels, hankies, pain medication, water bottles, or even clothes and random unwanted miscellaneous equipment. Everybody did it. Nobody seemed to complain. It seemed like a common practice, enough that it appeared to be accepted as race day de rigeur.

But somewhere along the way the nature of race day trash began to grow in the consciousness. You can call it the awareness that comes with maturity, or a sign of our environmental times, or a reflection of a mind just trying to escape the monotony of suffering. Whatever.

Let's just say it began to be a problem. Particularly as I began to notice the sheer volume of trash and the blight it was leaving on the landscape (both artificial and natural), as well as the level of effort that was required to clean it up. The scale was just profound. Enough that I felt compelled to begin to take some action.

Here's why race day trash is such an issue:

• The level of waste is completely out of proportion to the level of competition. By this, I mean that it seems the only people who could be excused for throwing trash on the race course would be professionals and some elites whose livelihoods depended on their velocity and finishing time. For the rest of us, there just isn't that much at stake to justify defacing public property (i.e., if the only thing at stake is your own ego, then how does that weigh against the public money that has to be spent to clean things up?).
• If you're going to walk (or run) through an aid station to get energy drink, water, gels, fruit, etc., then it shouldn't be too hard to walk (or run) to the trash can at the aid station to drop off the garbage. Seriously, it's only a few meters. It's not that hard. And even if you're on a bike, it's not that hard to slow down to drop your refuse at the trash bin. it's only a few seconds, and the vast majority of competitors are not going to have their livelihoods threatened by losing a few seconds to maintain a clean environment (i.e., again, if the only thing at stake is your own ego, then it's immaterial compared to the few seconds it will take to properly dispose the refuse you are holding in your hands).
• Even if race fees go towards cleaning up garbage, and hence offset the public taxes expended on the problem, this still creates the subsequent issue of race organizers increasing race fees...just like any business, they're going to pass on the costs (race day trash collection) onto their consumers (competitors). In which case, as a consumer, I'd prefer to save some money and try to see if costs (trash) could be decreased.
• It doesn't seem limited to race day. I'm seriously starting to suspect that competitors who are lackadaisical about throwing trash on the course during a race are also people who are just as lackadaisical about throwing trash on the streets on normal days...their carelessness seems habit-forming.
• It seems entirely contrary to the notion of athletics to be so careless about garbage. Athletics is supposedly about values like commitment and discipline. But there's not much commitment and discipline in simply dumping garbage on the race course.
• This was (and is) the kind of behavior that on normal days would be considered littering, which in most places is a crime involving a fine (and in some extreme cases, more).
• It's ugly. It's nasty. It's disgusting.

In terms of ways to deal with trash, the strategies I try to practice, and which I offer here, are two-fold:

• Pack-in-Pack-out: Also called Leave No Trace. This is a hiker's rule held by backpackers camping in the wilderness. It's a general principle meant to preserve the natural world in a pristine state so that its ecology can continue without any more human disruption than necessary. It's also meant to keep things in a way that other people can enjoy it after you've left.
• Aim for the Trash Can: I figure I can hold on to my trash until I spot a trash can, and which point I can save other people's energy by being responsible and disposing my own garbage into the trash bin. It's not that hard, and I figure it's the least I can do for all the work that race organizers, volunteers, and local communities do in hosting me.

These are arguments people may have heard before. But they're worth repeating, even if it only means that it'll start people thinking. If just a few people can start taking care of their own race day waste (it doesn't have to be someone else's waste, but just your own), it'll mean that much more to making a cleaner and more enjoyable experience for everybody--and not just in terms of being greener, but also in terms of just simply being better.

Which is, in part, what sport is supposed to be about: making the human condition better. For everyone.

note: this is excerpted from the original posted at jonathan in the distance.