One of the positive efforts of the Birkie Green initiative
of the American Birkebeiner has been to source the thousands of race bibs used
every year from recycled material. Borah Teamwear produces the bibs in
Wisconsin using recycled fiber made from plastic water bottles. Unfortunately,
every year after Birkie week concludes, the ABSF is left with a good number of
unused race bibs. The Birchleggings Club has taken some of those bibs and
crafted them into reusable shopping bags. Some folks have returned their used
race bibs so they can be repurposed or recycled, but the Birkie Bib Bags only
make a small dent into the number of leftover bibs that would be destined for a
landfill.
On July 19 the Birchleggings Club collaborated with the ABSF
to take the next major step in reducing bib waste by preparing over 2800+ bibs
for recycling. In a day-long environmental-action event, volunteers not only
ushered the bibs on their way to a new life, but learned what happens to
everyday trash when it gets thrown “away.”
The day began with a tour of the Republic Services Lake Area
Landfill near Sarona, WI, about 45 minutes south of Hayward. Jason Eraquam, Operations
Manager of the facility gave the group an overview of the facility, its history
and operation, and then guided them around the 300+acre site. While visiting a
landfill might not seem very attractive or exciting, Jason’s excellent
presentation opened our eyes to the complexity and long-term considerations
that go into creating, operating, and maintaining a landfill. Site selection,
site preparation, remediation/cleanup of old landfill sections, watershed
design and protection, leachate collection and treatment, water monitoring,
methane capture and reuse, windblown refuse collection, pest prevention,
recycling, restoring the vegetation when done, local road maintenance, educating
the public, using new technology, and more go into operating the site beyond
just burying trash in the ground. The care that is taken to manage the site
responsibly was impressive.
After the tour, more volunteers joined the group to “strip
the chips” from thousands of Birkie, Korte, and Prince Haakon race bibs. The
timing chips and year stickers on the bibs needed to be removed before they
would be acceptable for recycling by Terracycle, the company doing the
reclamation. The nineteen volunteers completed the work in a few short hours.
Some of the bibs were given to Julie Virkus and Nancy Bauer,
who created “The Bib Boutique” where they use their sewing and quilting skills
to transform the bibs into an array of colorful quilts, mittens, ski bags and
apparel. Be sure to look for their creations, as well as Birkie Bib Bags, at
the Birchleggings Club booth during next year’s Birkie Expo. The proceeds from
the sales are donated to local ski organizations such as Emily Foundation,
Spooner Nordic Ski Team, Hayward Nordic Ski Team and Nordic Kids.
The Birchleggings Club sends its thanks to Jason Eraquam of
Republic Services, Rachel Frydenlund, ABSF Event Logistics Manager, Paul
Thompson, BLC President, and the volunteers who made the event a success.
Posts
