COLUMN: How I got roped into a green triathlon

In today's El Paso Times

Louie Gilot: I got roped into a green triathlon

by Louie Gilot / Special to the Times

Posted: 07/29/2010 12:00:00 AM MDT

EL PASO -- My odyssey to greenness has taken me to a strange place. A while back I was asked to help "green" a triathlon, the event in which you run, swim and bike. Me? Just the word "triathlon" scares me. I'm the type of person who buys gym memberships during bouts of undue optimism -- say, around the New Year -- and never, ever goes to work out. Not even once. Sadly, I'm not exaggerating. I've done that several times. Cold hard cash down the drain isn't enough to motivate me to sweat.

But back to the triathlon. It's the Eagle in the Sun and takes place on the Tigua reservation on Sept. 5 (Registration closes Sept. 1). The people who put it together are hard-core triathletes who wanted to have the first chip-timed, USATriathlon-sanctioned race in El Paso. And they asked me to help make it environmentally friendly. Since they promised I wouldn't have to participate in the actual event, I said yes. (The El Paso Times is a sponsor of the race.)

Triathlons, as any other sporting event, have an impact on the environment. All too often, aid stations look like garbage dumps, athletes arrive at events in gas guzzlers and goody bags are plastic. Don't blame the athletes. They want to be green. But it's up to race organizers to make it possible. To that end, the Eagle in the Sun Triathlon will incorporate environmentally friendly practices, which we hope will inspire El Paso and visiting athletes and local race organizers to follow suit.

How are we going to do it? We signed up with Athletes for a Fit Planet, an organization that promotes environmentally friendly practices at athletic events and pledged to take the following greening measures.

All registrations must be done online (we eliminated the paper registration option).

We'll have recycling bins at the race (the Tiguas recycle).

We provided public transportation and car-pool information to athletes.

T-shirts for athletes and staff are made of recycled polyester or organic cotton.

Our goody bags are reusable, not plastic.

Those are things that other race directors could choose to implement.
Athletes, as well, can choose to go greener on their own before and after the race.
Here are some tips.

Don't print e-mail correspondence from the race if you don't have to.

Keep up with green racing tips at www.afitplanet.com/weblog/.

Reduce your emissions by traveling with other participants. You can organize a ride share through PickupPal.com or another ride-share site. It's free.

Offset your travel emissions by buying carbon offsets from renewable energy projects such as those featured on NativeEnergy.com. Athletes for a Fit Planet estimate that travel accounts for between 70 percent and 80 percent of a race's total climate footprint.

At the race, drink from reusable bottles.

Use the recycling bins. ...See you all at the race. I'll be the one not running.