Green group urges Hong Kong race organisers to reduce waste at running events
Green Earth hopes the city can become a ‘green events capital’ after noting that much of the rubbish being thrown away at races is recyclable
A green group has called on local running event organisers to push forward more initiatives to reduce waste and build the city into a “green events capital”, as its research shows more than half of the rubbish thrown away at races was recyclable.
Out of the 15 races Green Earth monitored between last October and December, 80 per cent offered plastic bottles of water to participants while only 40 per cent had water refill services.
The group also revealed that more than half of the rubbish thrown away was recyclable. During the 15 running races, its volunteers observed 100 people using the most “noticeable” rubbish bin at each event. The average rate of recyclable items being placed in rubbish bins was 52.7 per cent.
Only four events observed had recycling facilities while participants could use on-site recycling facilities in six other events, but the majority of the locations were not convenient.
Vivien Cheng Yu-wai, director of Green Earth’s community partnership, urged event organisers to implement more environmental measures to reduce waste.
“Hong Kong is an events capital and every week, or even every day, there are wide-ranging activities and events being held. Now, we want to go further and transform the city into a green events capital,” Cheng said.
“With the help of event organisers, we can reduce the amount of waste and minimise the impact on the environment to balance between having fun and protecting our environment.”