Kristina Smithe was directing the California International Marathon in 2019, grabbing water cups to stay hydrated, when she began to think about the amount of waste that produces such events. On the flight home, he made the calculations: 9,000 runners, 17 aid stations and something like 150,000 cups used once and thrown.
“I was surprised that, even in California, it is not sustainable,” said Smithe.
That caused his idea of something more durable: a slight and flexible cup of silicone that could be used again and again. After solving a design, Smithe ordered his first shipment and tested them in a race in 2021.
Now his business, Hiccup Earth, has 70,000 cups that Smithe rents to interested races to replace the typical white paper vessels that can accumulate as snow dispens in occupied water stops.
Millions of disposable glasses are used worldwide every year. These cups are often made of plasticBut even if they are made of paper, they usually have a plastic coating that does it difficult for them biodegrade. And make these cups, and eliminate or burn them, generates greenhouse gase emissions of planets.
“That is just a small subset of the amount of plastic waste we produce, but it is quite visible,” said Sarah Gleeson, solution research manager and plastics expert in the reduction of the non -profit climate project. “It is something that generates many waste and waste, depending on what is exactly done, it can really last in the landfills for hundreds of years.”
While taking off his business, Smithe sent an email to racing directors to ask if his event used disposable cups.
“The answer was always yes,” he said. His answer: “If you are looking for a sustainable solution, I have one.”
Now, rent the cups for thousands, taking them to events in mass bags and leaving containers with the company’s logo for collection after use. Smithe picks up the cups used and throws them in a patented dishwasher.
In the PNC Women Run the Cities Race in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, in early May, Smithe helped calm the thirst for Thousands of runnersLeaving bags of 17 gallons full of their flexible blue cups.
After that race, Smithe, 35, estimated that he has taken his drinks to 137 races and avoided 902,000 disposable landfills. It also says that its washing process only needs 30 gallons (114 liters) of water per 1,500 cups. An efficient average domestic dishwasher uses 3 to 5 gallons (11 to 19 liters) for much less dishes.
“It’s just a solution to a problem that has been a long time,” said Smithe.
Compensation is that the Cup rentals cost racing directors more than other options. The disposable glasses can run only a few cents each, while 10,000 cups of hiccups would be rented for about 15 cents each. That price falls if more cups are needed.
Gleeson, from Project Dawdown, sees the reusable cups as one of the many ways in which innovators seek to reduce waste. These solutions often have to be rooted in convenience and based on local or small applications so that more people adopt them. Some cities, for example, are experiencing with food to carry reusable food containers that customers return to the delivery points nearby later.
While no solution can completely address the problem, “scalability is there,” Gleeson said. “I think that, in general, the high adoption of this type of solutions is what can reduce costs and really maximize the environmental benefits it could obtain.”
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Alexa St. John is a climate reporter of Associated Press. Follow her in X: @alexa_stjohn. Communicate with her at ast.john@ap.org.
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Read more about AP climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment
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Associated Press’s climatic and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards To work with philanthropies, a list of followers and coverage areas financed in Ap.org.
