Hi friends,

Living in Chattanooga, which is technically "the south" (not sure I ever thought I would say I lived in the South!), I am noticing spring weather, which feels so early, but honestly, it feels good.

This is the time of year the trash really starts to emerge. We see all that has been dropped, thrown, and blown around, and I lose a little bit of hope. (Pick those pieces, or at least a few, up!)

At the same time, spring begins to bring those beautiful, simple examples of hope that mean the world:

The tiny buds emerging, the birds singing, the green starting to appear.

And while you may or may not yet be seeing signs of spring, even the idea of it coming can be enough to get you through the end of winter.

And tough time it has been when it comes to environmental initiatives. Just last week, the current administation revoked a scientific finding that long has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change...not great.

Definitely makes it easy for oil and plastic companies to double down on their profits, and puts human health at harm (as well as increased costs for all of us)...

BUT

and this is a big but.

I go into this year hopeful, optimistic, trusting in humanity, and definitely trusting in the resillience of nature.

In many ways, we don't have a choice. Every moment we have on this planet, is a moment we have the opportunity to do our part. Even if it means one less piece of plastic going into an ocean or river. One less animal going extinct. One human life saved through local community coming together.

It all matters, and I do believe the momentum is coming. I trust in that.

So with that, what are some of the things I want to share with you?

Let's get going.

Sustainability innovations or initiatives that impressed me:

Culligan x HydraPak partnership to figure a solution together at the Schneider Electric Paris Marathon

I am excited to share that I will be running the Schneider Electric Paris Marathon in a few months, as they become the first large race to offer no disposable cups or bottles for runners. This has the potential to be a life changing moment in our sport, and the world is watching.

Culligan and HydraPak have teamed up to create Culligan Speed Cups that will be given to every runner in the race, that way runners can refill along the way using their own bottles (like I will) and/or their new speedcup that hooks to their belt, a pin, or tucks into their shorts.

Yes, it will be tough for Schneider Electric Paris Marathon to pull this off, but I feel confident and inspired by the way Culligan is providing the cleaner, better tasting, safer water, and HydraPak provides the mode for runners to drink that water.

Logistik Events Management going all in in Puerto Rico

One of my favorite moments at Running USA, was Grisell Laboy Aponte showing me her presentation of the ways she is finishing up her certification requirements for Racing For Sustainability at her events. She shared Logistik Sustentable, "an initiative rooted in our responsibility as endurance event producers and in our commitment to reducing the environmental impact of the races we create in Puerto Rico."

We have been able to support her with the next (crucial step) to take this further, and we want to help you!

Speaking of which, if you have not yet filled out our survey to share your pain point, it will take two minutes, and you could be the next group/event/race we support!

Examples of doing the work:

Race season has not really started yet, but I have really enjoyed watching the ideas flow and the preparations begin.

I am excited to see what Badges and Medals comes up with for their LA marathon medal. I loved the medal they made for Boulderthon and it hangs on my medal shelf as a proud race that represents an important moment for me (the hemp bib shift).

Racing For Sustainability Impact Report

We created this:

We also have a 2026 plans deck. Reply to this email if you want more info on that.

From Landfill to Legacy: The Shift Every Race Needs

For Running USA a few months ago, I wrote an article about small shifts races can make to do their part. Racing For Sustainability has the potential to cover some of those costs (as I shared with Logistik above), but to get ideas flowing, here are initiatives already easy to implement.

Your outreach and asks

I am loving receiving your emails, asks, and requests in various forms for things you notice in your work lives that need to be improved. Like Greg Hipp at Chicago Event Management fully investing in figuring out refill stations or Nathan Smurdon from Beyond Monumental asking me about what to do with used credentials.

Keep those thoughts coming my way, I may not have an answer, but I will do my best to follow up and support the move towards one.

Community initiatives I loved:

I know race organizers looooveee data, so I was interested to learn more about the impact studies being done by Sparc. Impact reports measure and communicate the full value of events and organizations from participant engagement to community and economic impact. They are ideal for teams looking to support sponsorships, funding, or long-term growth with credible data.

Celebrating:

The 2025 London Marathon being the first marathon in the UK to achieve Evergreen status by Council for Responsible Sport. They are working hard on pushing initiatives forward, and I love to see this.

Something to think about:

At Running USA Conference, I had organized for all food waste and leftovers to be composted by New Earth Farms, the company my family personally composted with while I lived in St Louis. I was very excited for this, and it was a huge step for the hotel, the venue, and the industry, a huge example of how a few emails can lead to something important.

Except there was a major death in the family of New Earth Farm the day before the conference began, so they suddenly could not pick up, and we had to accept there was nothing we could do. A horrible situation, but the reality of life.

Now, I know you could take that as, well, why bother anyway? This is what could always happen working with a small, local company within your own events.

I also know, you wouldn't have made that mistake I did. Your organization skills would have created a backup, an option B if something were to go wrong.

For me, it was definitely a lesson in that. It is great to work with small businesses, but they are, after all, one person (or a few people). How can we do better at contingency planning (I need to take a leaf from your book).

I don't think there is any reason for this to be discouraging. Life involves failures. Life involves missing the mark, or things being cancelled. But like running itself, we try again, and try again I will.

--

Racing For Sustainability has changed our focus going into 2026.

We are focused on offering lots of opportunities for runners to fundraise for us, becoming sustainability champions to join our movement. You, my friend, can also become a sustainability champion to personally support the work we are doing. Regardless of if you race or not.

If you would like to join us from an event side, you can see the list of races we are currently working with, and more are in development. We can add your events to our list of races for runners to fundraise for us at. We ultimately want this to be a database of sustainable races runners can join.

With that, we have lowered our Racing For Sustainability membership to make the barrier to entry easier for smaller races. Races who are members have access to the Sustainability Support Fund, where we can cover costs related to sustainable upgrades for you.

We want to build a database of races who care, we want your race (yes, you reading!)

Your membership really does support us (as does you signing up individually as a champion, no, you don't have to be perfect!!)

And a touch of inspiration to set you about your day.

I love these side by side photos of our bodies and trees. We really aren't that different.

--

and the RFS Team

PS. New here? Once a quarter I send out these emails, with sustainability updates I have come across in the industry.

If you have a friend who would enjoy these, forward this on, sign up HERE.​