Environmental – St Giles

The St Giles House Estate is an amazing and unique place and we’d like to do our bit to make sure it stays that way for generations to come. The New Forest Marathon Team is committed to being as environmentally conscious as possible here are some of the things we do to be green!

 

Raising awareness about St Giles House Estate

We hope by running through the estate you will see for yourself how stunning this area of rural Dorset is and naturally respect it. Its an area that forms part of a 6000 acre private estate stooped in history, from Roman Roads to a World War 2 troop base.

 

Plastic Bottles recycled on Drink Stations

In 2021 drink stations will have plastic bottles which will be separated, collected and recycled. We encourage all runners to drop their bottles on the floor inside the drink station zone, anyone seen dropping ANY rubbish outside these zones are disqualified. This allows the clean up teams to really focus on the area ensuring it is clean and that no harm comes to wildlife who will pass after the event.

 

Gel Packs and Gummies

Our energy stations are stocked with plastic gel packs that are separated and recycled appropriately in partnership with our supplier High 5. There are also High 5 Gummies distributed in cardboard cups rather than plastic packets and recycled.

 

Finish Line water in a plastic bottle!

Yes you heard it.. we do use plastic on the finish line..The water is sourced from New Forest Spring Water only a few miles away lowering our carbon footprint. The runners can refill their bottles all day long from free water points around our race village. BUT… there’s a BIG BUT… these bottles must be deposited into a special recycle bin so we can recycle them into long term objects used at the event. This year we hope to build a picnic bench! Plastic is an amazing material if it is used in the right way!

 

Carbon Footprint

Our equipment is sourced locally using New Forest companies where possible. The Race village takes about 7 days to build, we source electric vehicles from a local supplier, especially designed to leave minimal footprint from its tyres to help up with all the hard work! We encourage all participants to car share where possible and if safe to do so. We also ensure St Giles Estate is returned back to its amazing natural environment before leaving.

 

Recycle Bins

We have special recycle bins throughout the Race Village so we can deal with your rubbish properly! Sometimes its not what you use, its about what you do with is afterwards that has the biggest impact!

 

Help

If anyone has any ideas how we can improve we’d love to hear from you.. This planet is special and St Giles House is a pocket of the world that is so unique.. Anything we can do to make the event better and greener we will definitely investigate!