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The First Carbon-Neutral Triathlon

July 9th, 2007

The annual Crystal Palace Triathlon organised by local club Crystal Palace Triathletes (CPT) is held in May each year, and is aiming to go carbon-neutral in 2008 in a bid to cut emissions produced as a result of the race.

Consultants Environmental Perspectives LLP will be assisting in establishing the carbon footprint for the event and advising CPT on how to make it a carbon neutral event.

The idea came about as a result of discussion by a few members of the club who were concerned about the amount of waste generated on the day. Whilst temporary recycling bins were erected to help deal with the plethora of plastic bottles consumed by athletes and marshals alike, discussions soon moved to wider impacts of the race in terms of the energy needed to run the race and the transport choice of the competitors arriving on the day.

Club Chair John Petrides said ‘Whilst in previous years we have focused on putting on a bigger and better race each year, we are keen to ensure that we do not do this at the detriment of the environment. The club feels strongly about the impact our triathlon has on both the local and global environment and we feel that this is our way of making a small but worthwhile contribution’.

As a result, the Club are now keen to ensure that the 2008 race is organised both in the run up (and on the day) in the most energy-efficient manner possible. Whilst CPT is committed to reducing the amount of waste generated and energy consumed it is likely that some carbon will need to be off-set. This will be done on the advice of our consultants and club members will get to vote on which carbon off-set projects will benefit.

A call for sponsors

CPT is looking for sponsors for their 2008 race to help them in their quest of reducing the negative environmental impacts. If you or your company is interested in sponsoring the race please contact Dawn Haines on 07968542951