As part of Clarity Environmental’s commitment to donate 1 per cent of profits each quarter to worthwhile causes and research, we have been a long-time supporter of Rise. We are proud to have now collaborated further with the UK charity to provide an environmental assessment of their large-scale fundraising events.
Rise UK, which supports victims of domestic abuse and violence, organise two running events each year in Brighton to fundraise, increase awareness and connect with the community. With the event accommodating 500 entrants, as well as the volunteers, the charity want to make their events more environmentally friendly and sustainable going forward.
Our environmental assessment of the charity’s current events included a climate footprint report based on the goody bags participants were to receive. The climate footprint was measured by working out the total manufacturing and transport emission costs of individual items and multiplying it by the number of these items handed out at the event.
We advised Rise that materials given to participants should be assessed, such as the fabric of the tote bags; changing the contents of the goody bag to sustainable alternatives; supply reusable water bottles to participants instead of giving out single-use items; using recycled paper to print leaflets.
Some additional feedback was also given to review the materials used for the confetti cannon on site, ideally changing to biodegradable materials due to the impact on the local fauna and flora. The placement and provision of bins was also investigated, with a suggestion of waste disposal and recycling bins located at the start and finish as the most likely places for littering. No trace of the event should be left once it is over, and all waste should be properly disposed of or recycled.
After receiving the consultation, Rise have since held their Undercliff 8km charity run and put several sustainable changes in place. These included:
Encouraging participants to bring their own reusable water bottles or receive a free Rise branded bottle at the event to reducing single-use plastic packaging waste.
All posters and flyers have been printed on recycled paper, and participants were asked to place any of these items in the correct waste stream – ideally recycling them.
The communication to the participants was clear to outline their sustainability goals and participants were requested to consider travelling to the event via public transport, avoiding single-use plastic where possible and using the correct bins, including the composting facilities available on site.
The goody bags given to all participants contained bamboo straws, plant seeds, a voucher for vegan shampoo bars and some beauty products with a leaflet included to advise participants where to recycle their beauty product packaging.
Nicola Davis, Senior Communications Officer at Rise UK, is looking forward to the next stage of sustainable planning: “We’d like to thank Clarity Environmental for not only supporting us financially, but for sharing their expertise with us to make our 8K Undercliff Run for Women more sustainable. Their recommendations have formed a three year plan to reduce the carbon footprint of our challenge events as much as possible. These events are crucial to raise funds for our domestic abuse services, but it’s important that we reduce the impact they have on the environment, particularly when our 8K race takes part in an area of such outstanding natural beauty as the picturesque Saltdean undercliff path.”
Rise have also stated that they have future plans to source low impact medals for the race, use paper envelopes to send race packs and potentially have participants reuse their charity t-shirts from previous Rise events. They are also planning on getting feedback from the participants on how they can make further green changes to their events.
“This is fantastic work from Rise and they are working hard to be pioneers in the charity event sector. We are proud to be working with such an environmentally conscious charity and look forward to collaborating with them on future events.”
If you would like your event or business assessing by Clarity Environmental, please contact Sophia Lacey on sophia.lacey@clarityenv.eu or 01273 929 224 for more information.
