Thursday, March 19, 2009

Keeping it green

About.com: Running & Jogging is fast becoming one of our favourite running blogs out there. They had a great article on green running earlier this week in honour of St. Patrick's Day.
We adapted some of their hints & tips to make our training and racing greener:

Don't throw away plastic bottles.
Plastic bottles form a huge waste issue around the globe. Just think about it this way, if every person in Ireland uses one plastic bottle a week, that's about 4 million bottles...multiply that by 52 weeks...that's 208 million a year! Even if 3/4 end up in recycling that's still 52 million bottles in landfills. Why not buy refillable water bottles? Or be 100% certain they are recycled in the correct manner.

Buy powdered sports drinks.
This goes hand in hand with the refilling of plastic bottles. And often the powder is cheaper than the individual bottles - recession buster!

Hold off on buying new clothes.
This can be a tough one...of course we want to look our best at all times. But if it's really time for new running gear, make sure you recycle your old ones. I had a pair of trackies that made great dusters!

Recycle your used running shoes.
Here is a list of centres that will accept old shoes of any kind:

Ballymount Recycling Centre
Dublin 12, Ballymount Lane Ballymount Industrial Estate

Ballyogan Recycling Park
Dublin 18, Ballyogan Rd, Carrickmines, D 18

Coolmine Recycling Centre
Dublin 15, Coolmine Industrial Estate

Estuary Recycling Centre
Swords, Seatown East, Swords, Co Dublin

Ringsend Recycling Centre
Dublin 4, Pigeon House Road, Dublin 4

Shamrock Terrace Recycling Centre
Dublin 3, North Strand Rd, Shamrock Tce, Dublin 3


Find races that are environmentally friendly.
Find out if the organisers are recycling paper and plastic. If they aren't recycling try and put pressure on them to do so, maybe get a petition together to show support for the idea. Keep contacting them until they make suitable arrangements


Run local races.
This is all about our carbon footprint. Choose local races first and if you are travelling further field use public transport or car pool to get there.

Does anyone else have any other green running hints & tips?

Monday, March 16, 2009

Paddy's Day Cheer

Here's a video to cheer up everyone who is working today and not preparing for the mini-marathon or Paddy's Day:


Juliet, one of our Programmes Officers, is currently visiting a number of our programmes in Africa including the Imperi Women's Group, Sierra Leone. The video is taken with her digital camera, so unfortunately it's a little short. But it really reflects the joy of the women's group so we didn't want you to miss it!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!