Why Go Zero Waste? Mumbai To Organise A Waste-Free Marathon To Spread Awareness

Mumbai: If you’ve experienced any marathon in Mumbai, either as a participant or as a spectator, then you know the turnout is huge. The Tata Mumbai Marathon is an annual international marathon held in Mumbai on the third Sunday of January every year and it is considered to be the largest mass participation sporting event in Asia. With all that crowd comes a lot of waste: thousands of water bottles, banana peels, and energy bar wrappers. However, the 2019 edition of the marathon will be different.

“This Marathon (2019), we are committed towards not only taking care of our runners, but also our environment equally,” said the Tata Mumbai Marathon group.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in collaboration with the organisers of the event has announced a ‘Zero Waste Marathon’, meaning that minimal waste will be generated. All the items that have the potential to generate waste like plastic bottles will be eliminated. And whatever waste will be generated will be sent to the recycling units.

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Every year after the marathon is over, tonnes of litter is left behind by the participants despite having enough bins installed along the running route. This year instead of tackling the post event scenario, we will have our focus on steps to be taken before the event to reduce waste generation. It will be a fully waste-managed event. The aim is to set example for everyone of a greener and cleaner marathon, says an official from BMC’s Solid Waste Management department.

The BMC is expected to deploy around 250 sanitation workers. The workers will be stationed along the route to manage, collect and segregate waste. Unlike the previous marathons, the waste generated in the 2019 edition will be segregated on site instead of transporting it to trenching ground

To cut down on paper waste, the organisers have sent the entry forms and handbook via email to the participants.

As part of the plan, the refreshments will be given to the participants in cloth bags instead of plastic carry bags. This move is being taken in line with the plastic ban in Maharashtra.

To discourage the use of plastic bottles and thereby avoid litter, the organisers will store water in bubble jars and will be dispensed to the participants either in paper cups or bottles that the participants carry.

The theme of 2019 edition of Mumbai Marathon is ‘#BeBetter’. Around 46,000 runners are expected to hit the roads for the marathon that will take place on January 20.

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NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollution, clean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.