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As part of our sustainability strategy, we want to minimise our carbon footprint. To achieve this, we have an approach based on the following three levers:
We are taking action to reduce our direct and indirect emissions by changing our practices. By choosing a low-carbon means of transport or reducing your meat consumption, you can also avoid greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and thus reduce your personal carbon footprint. There will still be ‘residual emissions’ from any human activity. In order to reduce our impact and that of our events on climate change, we aim, after the reduction and avoidance stages, to contribute to achieving global carbon neutrality. This does not negate our own impact but reflects an additional commitment to reduction and avoidance.
To respond to the impact on the environment and more particularly with a view to minimising greenhouse gas emissions, the Balexert 20km de Genève encourages the use of public transport through concrete actions with its partners. Indeed, the train emits about 80 times less GHG than a car (1 person) or a plane trip.
The Léman Express stops at the Cornavin train station, which is about 5 minutes’ walk from the start of the races and 10 minutes by transport from the village on Fridays and Saturdays, which is a plus in terms of achieving our objectives regarding the minimisation of carbon impact.
The Transports Publics Genevois (TPG) are mobilising their network to allow all participants, volunteers, partners, and team members to travel free of charge during the event but also throughout the city of Geneva and its surroundings.
Car sharing
For all the visitors and runners, and always with the aim of optimising motorised travel in the city, the Fondation des Parkings de Genève and Parkgest are offering preferential rates at certain P+R or to park in the city center and then travel using the entire TPG network.
We ask the participants who travel by car to come by carpooling to minimise the number of cars around the departure or the arrival and to reduce our carbon impact.
On the event village, all our food trucks will have a vegetarian menu, to raise awareness on the overconsumption of meat and to encourage people to eat less meat and show that you can have very good vegetarian meals.
In comparison, a vegetarian meal is 5 to 14 times less GHG than a meat meal.
We are in collaboration with the Manotel group, which has a social and environmental program for its hotels. https://www.manotel.com/fr/programme-social-et-environnemental.html
Most of our suppliers and service providers are also local, with a real territorial anchorage.
We are limiting the number of goodies on the event and are opting mainly for useful gifts for the runners so that there is no overproduction or overconsumption.
For the past few years, we have been communicating the event at a local level, so we focus on Switzerland, its neighbouring countries and cities that are easily connected to Geneva by train in order to minimise the long travel time for participants.
Since 2017, the Balexert 20km de Genève and the Breast Cancer Network have joined forces to support women with breast cancer.
If you wish to go one step further, suggest to your relatives and friends to sponsor you and donate to the Breast Cancer Network
All our races are open to people with reduced mobility to allow everyone to enjoy the Balexert 20km de Genève, for example we open our races to visually impaired people accompanied by a guide or other illnesses
We set up dedicated areas for disabled triathletes to allow them to be in the best possible comfort, such as during transitions in the changing area.
We advocate gender equality by communicating to encourage women to participate in our long-distance races, which are mostly run by men.
We contribute to the preservation of the environment by setting up specific sorting bins (PET, aluminium, glass, other waste) on the entire site. This allows us to recycle the remaining waste and to limit the pollution of our environment as much as possible.
The organising committee has decided to put in place this year, incinerable bins for cardboard and compost. Thus, each participant and spectator is encouraged to sort their waste.
For the Balerxert 20km de Genève, water is a key point in its strategy. The preservation of water is a major issue that we want to communicate to current and future generations!
The water supply of the runners is made with the Eau de Genève which allows to limit the waste on the event. Tap water in Geneva is of excellent quality and up to 1,000 times more ecological than bottled water.
At the refreshment stands, no more PET bottles are used for water, only cardboard cups are used.
Moreover, the water used is first analysed in a laboratory before being given to the runners to preserve them and ensure their safety.
We prohibit the distribution of flyers in the village and limit the distribution of goodies and free objects, except those made from recycled elements. Finally, posters and postcards are made available to the public (not distributed) and must be printed on recycled paper, FSC or PEFC certified paper.
We create delimited smoking areas in the village so as not to pollute the space and to center the waste of cigarette butts in one place, 2 cigarette butts pollute up to 1000 liters of water.