In Search of Green Teams for The 508

New for 2007, in an ongoing effort to minimize the environmental footprint of our events, as well as make them safer and less obtrusive on the highways, we are initiating a "Green Team" program at Furnace Creek 508. The plan is to encourage, recognize, and reward those 508 entrants—racer(s), vehicle, and crew combined—who make the smallest "environmental footprint" while competing in the race. This is an outgrowth of the environmental and highway safety efforts we have already had in place for many years, such as limiting each entrant (whether solo or team) to just one support vehicle, limiting the support vehicle size to no wider than 78 inches, and discouraging camper vans, supersize SUV's, and supersize pickups with large shells. Many of these environmental footprint mitigation efforts will also make the race safer and improve its appearance in the eyes of the authorities and the general public, so it's a win-win-win across the board!

We'd like to hear from 508 entrants—as well as the AdventurCORPS athletes in general—as to what you think a Green Team effort at the 508 should entail. 2007 will be a "demonstration year" for this program. Basically, each team that wants to participate in this effort will research and document their efforts—in support vehicle selection, in minimizing the distances flown and driven to get to and from the race, in utilizing recycled / reused materials, in supporting environmental programs like paying for trees to be planted, in educating the public through a website, blog, or other channel, and the like. Teams pursuing this effort will present their own Green Team Effort outline when they check-in for the race, then will send us an "Environmental Impact Report" about their 508 experience within 30 days of the conclusion of the race. The teams that do the most to minimize their footprint will be featured on the race website and in this email newsletter and will set the standard for future Green Team efforts at this race and probably for all AdventureCORPS events. We will also give some cool award to the team that makes the biggest effort.

Participation in this Green Team program is entirely voluntary, but we hope that many, if not most, of the 508 entrants and their support crews will embrace it.

Here are some ideas which 508 team veteran and 2007 solo entrant Matt Ruscigno came up with for Green Teams:

• Use 5-gallon water containers to refill water bottles
• Buy locally produced fruits and veggies: minimize the transportation before it reaches you
• Eat lower on the food chain to minimize the calories of energy required to produce the foods
• Eating minimally processed food uses less energy
• Use large serving sizes for any packaged food items to minimize waste
• Set up a website where friends can log in to show that they have ridden (a total of) 508 miles locally in trips that otherwise would have been made by car in order to offset the support vehicle miles during the race (people bike commuting already don't count!).
• Hybrid support car driven slow enough to minimize the use of the gasoline engine
• Minimize the amount of stuff inside the vehicle without sacrificing the racer's performance (think like a bike-touring cyclist!)
• Use mobile solar panels to charge electronics
• Do preparation errands in the weeks leading up by bicycle. It's good training

Click here to read the "Environment" page on the AdventureCORPS website.