You may have noticed the new, light green T-shirts people are wearing for the 11th Annual Tin Cup Challenge, but that isn’t the only new green thing you’ll see at this year’s Tin Cup Event Day. The Community Foundation of Teton Valley has partnered with Teton Valley Community Recycling to green Event Day. The goal is to have less impact on the environment, while still having an amazing event and a lot of fun.
This annual community event is not only a showpiece of local philanthropy, but also a great chance to showcase novel approaches to celebrating, while minimizing waste and environmental impact. You, the community, can make a big difference by doing simple things like bringing your own water bottle, only taking what you will use from the nonprofit booths, and properly disposing of your waste. Look for the Teton Valley Community Recycling Green Team to answer any questions you might have about recycling, composting, or waste disposal during the Tin Cup Celebration.
Check out some of the cool new things happening this year:
Food – This year, Food Acquisition Captain, Kathy Hoffman and the Foundation are making a big effort to reduce single use disposables and food waste. They have teamed up with local food producer, Kate’s Real Food to offer bulk Tram Bar Bites without any packaging. The popular new Driggs restaurant, Yeti’s Post, will be supplying locally made, package-free mini-donuts. Also on the menu will be fruit with compostable peels alongside coffee grounds, paper napkins, and other biodegradable products. And what about utensils? There won’t be any! By choosing finger food, there will only be paper plates, cups, and bamboo stirrers. Next year, we’ll aim to tackle coffee cups. This year, coffee drinkers can bring their own to-go mugs. Any leftover food will be donated to Senior’s West of the Tetons and other local nonprofits in need.
Water – BYO and Refill with the Hydration Station
Please bring your own water bottle! Teton Valley Community Recycling will be setting up a portable Hydration Station with three water taps and 2 water fountains so you can refill your bottles or grab a drink in passing. The Hydration Station will be located on the east end of the field near the race finish and is connected via a food grade hose to the Driggs municipal water system. Free, clean water with no waste! There will also be free water bottles available, in case you forgot yours, thanks to See & Save, Seniors West of the Tetons, the Community Foundation of Teton Valley, and Teton Valley Community Recycling who collaborated to collect, sanitize, and provide these reusable water bottles to the community and save them from the landfill.
Waste – Composting, Recycling, Trash
Full Circle Education will be collecting food scraps, paper napkins, and other biodegradable food waste to turn into rich compost for their many school gardens – reducing waste, while nourishing the soil and educating kids. Look for compost collection tubs near the food service tent. RAD Curbside will be providing recycling and waste receptacles to collect your traditional recyclables, including aluminum cans, #1 and #2 plastic bottles, and glass. Nonprofit booths can also recycle cardboard and mixed paper waste – look for the blue recycling cans. If in doubt, ask a Green Team volunteer in an orange vest or toss it in the trash rather than contaminating the recycling. There will be regular trash cans available throughout the venue.
Transportation – Walking, carpooling, riding your bike, or taking the free shuttle are all great ways to reduce your carbon footprint. As usual, Teton Valley Trails and Pathways will be offering free, secure bike valet service. For participants coming from Victor, there will be a free shuttle bus service offered by Teton Valley Community School, NOLS Teton Valley, and the Learning Academy of Teton Valley. All three nonprofits have generously offered their buses and drivers to transport people from Victor to Driggs and back. In an effort to reduce the carbon footprint, each bus will do one round-trip. See the Teton Valley News press releases for the shuttle schedule.
Race – Competitive races typically generate a fair amount of solid waste. While we are working on ways to reduce refuse, there will still be disposable cups at the aid station this year; however, we encourage you to run with your own water bottle to reduce the number of single-use cups used. Race bibs will be collected in hopes of re-using them in other regional races – look for the Bib Collection Bin at the finish line!
Measuring the Carbon Footprint – Students from the Teton Science School will be collecting data on waste, vehicle use, water, and electricity usage to estimate the “carbon footprint” of the Tin Cup Challenge. With Teton Science School’s previous tracking of Old Bill’s Fun Run, they’ve been able to see improvements in implementing waste reduction and energy saving measures. Their calculations will give us a good baseline to improve upon in future years.
We are excited to help set the stage for green events and initiatives in our community. Help us celebrate the amazing generosity of Teton Valley and our hard-working nonprofits at the Tin Cup Event Day on Saturday, July 21st at the Driggs City Park – don’t forget your water bottle!
