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For the first time, environmentally friendly dishes were used in Tartu Marathon autumn events. In co-operation with the local organisation Eesti Pandipakend, food and drinks were served in reusable bowls and cups in the finish canteen.

We asked Kaupo Tammemäe, the Service Manager of Tartu Marathon, how big was the impact for the nature, how did participants react to the renewal, what was learned from it and where to go next:

How big was the impact for the nature?

“In total, we saved 17 000 plastic cups and bowls with three events. Inline skating marathon in August is our smallest event, and we saved 4 500 plastic dishes there. The MTB marathon in September and the city marathon in October had significantly more participants, so 7 000 and 5 500 dishes were saved.”

Did everything go smoothly?

“Our biggest question was, how to make sure that people return their dishes after the meal instead of throwing them in the trash or taking home. Therefore, we used the deposit system for the first two events – 2 euros per unit, which we paid back when the dishes were returned. At the inline skating marathon, with less than 1000 participants-organizers, the system worked well. However, during the MTB marathon with over 3000 participants, problems with returning the deposit raised. So we had to come up with a smoother and more convenient plan for next event.”

What was the best practice?

“In the last event we decided to trust the participants and distributed the dishes without deposit. We communicated as much as possible beforehand. In addition, we used volunteers on site guiding and giving instructions where to return used dishes. As a result, only 13 cups out of 5 500 were lost in the city marathon, which is marginal. For example, at Estonian festivals, about 5% of reusable dishes are usually lost. In our case it was even below 1%.”

How did participants react to the new system?

“People’s awareness and responsibility for their consumption has increased, and this makes them positive and understanding in such solutions. Also the fact, that we have made several changes in the past to make our events environmentally friendly, helped us here. For example, from 2019, we no longer distribute plastic bags in the luggage service.

Of course, we got some negative feedback as well. Especially after the MTB event, where participants were not satisfied with the deposite system. Fortunately we had the next event knocking on our door and already in 2 weeks we had the possibility to show that we learned from the experience and arranged the same thing on a completely different level.”

What about the finish catering in Tartu Ski Maraton?

“With upcoming Tartu Maraton we also plan to continue with environmentally friendly solutions. For the first time in our ski marathon, food and drinks in the finish catering will be served in reusable dishes. Also, plastic bags are no longer provided, participants are asked to pack things in their own sports or hiking bags.“

48th Tartu Maraton with 63 and 31 km classical distances takes place on February 20th, 2022. Cheapest entry fee is available up to December 13th.

A week earlier, on February 13th, the traditional Open Track and team relay are held. More info and registration: www.tartumaraton.ee