Since June 2023, you will only be allowed to use reusable cups during events. The organisation of 100KM Dodentocht already tested this system at a checkpoint last year. For
the 54th edition, the organisers are shifting up another gear by using reusable cups everywhere using reusable cups everywhere and optimally deploying water points.
On Friday, August 11, 13,000 walkers will be at the start of the 54th edition of 100KM Dodentocht. Needless to say, 13,000 walkers create a lot of waste. On one Dodentocht weekend, this quickly amounts to one kilogram per participant. “With our MEP, the MIlieu
Educational Squad, we have been committed to recycling this waste for more than 15 years. Everything we handed out at the checkpoints and all the packaging material we sort by type. In each checkpoint we provide several waste islands so that walkers too can throw their waste in the right bin,” says the MEP team.
Reusable cups
To further reduce waste and to comply with Flemish government regulations, the organisation is switching completely to reusable cups this year. “After a pilot project with reusable cups during the previous edition, this 54th edition will switch completely to this system. In total, we are providing 170,000 cups, spread across the various checkpoints. There are even two types of cups. The black, insulated cups for hot drinks and the transparent ones for cold drinks,” the organisation explains. Meeting the obligation is not only
organisationally a serious challenge, it also costs a huge amount of money. “As an organisation, we pay not only for the cups, also for industrial cleaning and for every cup we lose. We therefore make a warm appeal to our walkers not to take any cups to the next checkpoint but to throw them in the bigbags, which are designated for that purpose.”
Extra water taps
The organisation of 100KM Dodentocht is providing a water tap point for each checkpoint in collaboration with Pidpa. The appeal from the organisation is therefore simple: bring your own camelbag or drinking can and fill it yourself at the water taps before entering the checkpoint. “By bringing your own camelbag or drinking can, we as an organisation hope to reduce the large amount of plastic bottles containing water can be reduced. In the meantime, that in turn helps reduce the large mountain of waste that an event like 100KM Dodentocht entails,” the MEP team concludes.
