JUNE | THE COMMENTATOR
Losing the bottle
Martin Fullard talks plastic
couple of weeks ago I was
A humiliatingly required to run for a bus over a distance of about 50 metres . By the time I had gone to tap in I was cascading sweat and short of breath . Despite in my teenage years having represented Surrey in the under-16 cross-country , I am no great fan of running , and running for the 281 confirmed both this and my unfitness . It also confirmed I was thirsty . When you ’ re dying of thirst you simply do not care how the quenching water is presented to you : in a teacup , in a flowerpot or , even , in a plastic bottle . April saw the 38th installation of the London Marathon and , as luck would have it for the two people dressed as a rhinoceros , it was one of the hottest days of year , scraping past 24C . That meant all 40,000 , and the rhinoceros , were going to be very thirsty , very often . How many bottles of water did each of the 40,000 runners consume over the 26-mile dash ? Guess . Nope , it ’ s around 800,000 : bottles are available every mile between miles 3 and 25 . After the race had finished , and once Mo Farah had found his special bottle , a video surfaced online of what can only be described as a sea of plastic . Tens of thousands of discarded
“ Credible alternatives just aren ’ t available just yet .”
water bottles strewn across the road : it was quite a sight . Anyone with even the fainted desire to save the planet would need to be brought round with smelling salts . It would , though , be churlish to brand the organisers as Enemies of the Planet because , as we know , not all plastic alternatives have become mainstream yet . So before we berate the human condition for needing water during a marathon , it ’ s worth pointing out that this year organisers were trialling a new ‘ compostable cup ’ – 90,000 of them to be exact , and that they would be available at three drinking stations . A London Marathon spokesperson told BBC Radio 5 that right now there ’ s “ no other way ”, apart from plastic bottles , to keep thousands of people hydrated in a short space of time : He added : “ Plastic bottles that are recyclable and sent for recycling are currently the best solution for the distribution of water and sports drinks to the more than 40,000 runners , given the very short window of road closures in one of the world ’ s busiest capital cities .” He ’ s right : credible alternatives just aren ’ t available just yet , but at least they ’ re trying . However , speaking to the BBC , Russell Seymour , chair of the British Association of Sustainable Sport said : “ The best option for single-use plastic is to avoid using it in the first place , and this should be in place for ‘ mass spectator ’ events .” Seymour and I have quite a lot in common , as it turns out : I don ’ t have a practical solution either . The issue , I ’ d wager , will likely be solved by the events industry . Are you doing your bit ?
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