Be Green Athletes! - Green Triathlon® in Budapest • World Triathlon Media Centre

Be Green Athletes! - Green Triathlon® in Budapest

by Masa Takaya on 03 Sep, 2010 10:00 • Español

Green Triathlon® initiative rolls out at the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Grand Final Budapest

With a commitment to making the sport of triathlon as green as possible, the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Grand Final will feature several initiatives to minimize the environmental impact. The five-day event, which begins on September 8, will advocate athletes’ responsibility to keep the air and water in which they compete as clean as possible.

The primary focus of the Green Triathlon® programme during next week is to raise awareness and understandings of the interrelation of athletics and environmental protection, while proactively involving competitors, spectators, contributors and local and international media. Reducing the event’s waste products, ensuring recycling through separate waste collections, and organising a Green Expo are some of the examples.

Several well known Hungarian athletes have been appointed as Green Ambassadors to help the initiative gain awareness among the public. Zsolt Erdei, a former boxing world champion, Kinga Bóta, an Olympic silver medallist in kayaking, and Gábor Balogh, an Olympic silver medallist in modern pentathlon, planted a commemorative Green Triathlon tree at the Kopaszi-gát Race Center in April. Hungarian triathlon legend, Péter Kropkó, is also a Green Ambassador. The Hungarian Olympic Committe’s Irány a zöld! (Let’s head to the green!) programme further encourages Olympians to support Green initiatives.

Staff members of the International Triathlon Union are now taking up the Green Triathlon® initiative with unprecedented enthusiasm, and will be actually participating in the Green Triathlon Team Relay Event, which is scheduled for September 8th. ITU Executive Board members are also set to organise a team to compete.

ITU Secretary General Loreen Barnett, said:
“Our planet is the competition venue for all our events, so it is our responsibility to keep this venue as clean as possible. I am very passionate about participating in the Green Triathlon with all the ITU staff members to demonstrate how keen ITU is to raise awareness of this global issue.”

Some tips to become Green Athletes:

Carpool or take public transit to get to and from events
Use reusable bottles instead of throwaway plastic water bottles.
Buy apparel made of natural and renewable resource
Rethink your purchasing decisions, and wear your existing apparel as long as you can
Donate your old shoes to outfits that give shoes to needy people

Some tips to become Green Visitors: