Guidelines to Promote "Carbon Neutral" Sporting Events
The current color of social and political change is "green", signaling increased public awareness of green house gases (GHGs) and global warming. For its part, DC Velo (along with team title sponsor Clean Currents (www.cleancurrents.com)), are promoting "carbon neutral" cycling races.
To offset the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions attributable to our events, all sources of GHGs are tallied by calculating the travel mileage of all organizers, participants, and support crews. These calculations are submitted to the Clean Energy Partnership for certification. The amount of renewable energy credits (RECs), or "green tags," needed to offset our event's CO2 emissions are then purchased from our team sponsor Clean Currents. Once the emissions are certified and the RECs purchased, the event becomes "carbon neutral."
Any sporting event promoter has the ability to promote and offset the carbon emissions attributable to their events and support green-friendly efforts. Promoters are in a unique position to combine health and fitness activities with environmental initiatives by adding their event to the ever-growing list of carbon neutral events. By using the following guidelines, you can contribute towards both environmental awareness and a demand for sources of renewable energy.
Here are the six basic steps to making an event "carbon neutral:"
- Collect travel data from all race participants. The round-trip mileage traveled by each participant should be collected, in addition to the "mode" of transportation. Mileage data can conveniently be calculated from home addresses provided in registration and/or release forms. The mode of transportation (airplane, car, public transportation, self-powered... etc) can be obtained when the participant registers online through a simple questionnaire. This information is best obtained during the registration process. Many online registration websites can be modified to collect such data.
- Collect and record travel data from the promoters. All mileage traveled by race promoters for the sole purpose of race promotion. This includes meetings with local governments, planning committees, picking up/returning supplies... etc.
- Obtain travel data for all race volunteers. Race volunteers are a significant part to ensuring a safe and well-run event. All round-trip mileage should be collected from volunteers. The volunteers should report their mileage upon check-in, or at least provide the address from where they traveled, before assuming their post or responsibility.
- Compile race support crew travel mileage. Round-trip mileage traveled by race support staff/crews should be obtained. For example, this includes police or other law enforcement, race officials, race marshals, race support (announcers, neutral race support personnel) vendors, crowd control personnel, delivery persons (portable toilet facilities, barricades, fencing... etc), and others unique to each event.
- Once all the round-trip mileage is collected, it is necessary to separate the data according to travel "mode." Since the emissions of an airplane differ significantly from public transportation, these variations must be accounted for to assure accurate "carbon neutral" certification.
- After all information is obtained, calculated, and supported with back-up data, you are ready to submit your data to the Clean Energy Partnership ("CEP") for certification of the CO2 emissions attributable to your event. The Clean Energy Partnership is located at www.cleanenergypartnership.org. Once certified by the CEP, CEP will also calculate the tonnage of CO2 emitted. The promoter can then purchase the proper amount of renewable energy credits from Clean Currents or any green energy provider. Once these "green tags" have been purchased, the event becomes carbon neutral.
The above process is entirely dependent on the accurate compilation of the various sources of round-trip mileage. Most of this data can be obtained very easily, as the bulk of the data will come from race registrations. In most other cases, the underlying data can be gathered before the event occurs or, at the very least, during set up for the event. The key is to collect this data earlier and to make sure everyone associated with the event understands that it is their responsibility to provide the designated "carbon neutral" point person with their mileage and mode of transportation. In the end, data collection can be greatly eased with adequate planning.
We hope these guidelines are a useful tool for any promoter. Putting on carbon neutral events brings environmental awareness, encourages the reduction of GHG's, and creates a demand for renewed energy offsets. In so doing, your event can serve the larger goal of both participant and environmental health and fitness.
If you have any questions about putting on a "carbon neutral" event, please contact our carbon neutral director Adam Fung at afung@dcvelo.com. Thanks for reading.
