What Is A Carbon Negative Event?

Author: Adam Bratton
​Read Time: 3 mins

Let me be clear that I am not a scientist and that the Human Powered Movement platform swings significantly further to the artistic side of the art/science pendulum. We exist to inspire more activity in people’s lives and use our platform for good. We essentially, and proudly, follow the Public Benefit Corporation model. We regularly put people and planet over profits and routinely go with our gut feeling when determining “the right thing to do”. It takes a lot of balls and an incredible level of passion to continue this “benefit” work every day, but the impact is meaningful in OUR community and critical for OUR environment.

Launching 2 brand new Carbon Negative endurance events is a match made in HPM Heaven. Here’s what you need to know about how we approached and created two new Carbon Negative Events

• “MOVE” A Carbon Negative & Fat Ass Style Trail Run
• “MOVE” A Carbon Negative & Bare Bones Mtn Bike Ride

According to the World Economic Forum “Carbon Negative” requires a company (or individual, product, event, etc.) to remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it emits. Pretty simple definition. Much harder to do in practice.
It’s no surprise that HPM is feverishly pro-environmental. Here are a few baseline examples in case you’re new to our steamy love affair with Momma Nature

• HPM is a longstanding 1% For The Planet Member (We’ve given over $15K to environmental non-profits)
• We conduct ongoing cleanups at our Adopt-a-Highway and Adopt-a-Stream locations near our Psychoactive Last Runner Standing Event venue Blackberry Ridge Farm
• We exclusively use Recover Brands for our branded apparel
• All other merchandise in our Online Store is sourced as locally and sustainable as possible and has environmental uses (like these reusable HPM utensils)

In addition to bringing our community together through movement, we educate and encourage environmental impact. We took both of these goals into account when developing our upcoming (and inaugural) “MOVE” events. 

Here is how these “MOVE” events are Carbon Negative

• Event Beneficiaries: Identified orgs who are doing critical work in their field to support the environment and reduce carbon footprint
  • TreesCharlotte – We donate proceeds. They plant trees. Those trees take carbon from the air for eternity … boom!
  • Trips for Kids Charlotte & The ReCyclery – We donate proceeds. They collect and refurbish bikes to keep them out of the landfill. People use bikes instead of cars. Carbon reduction with each pedal stroke … boom!
• Event Venue: Based on registration data from previous HPM events, we selected a venue that is centrally located to our primary users to minimize distance traveled
• Zero Registration Fees: In lieu of paying a reg fee, participants are required to pick up two bags of trash on their own time and submit proof
• Event Shirts: This pains me to say because of the incredible work Recover does in sustainable apparel, but participants do not get an event shirt - See our collection efforts below
• Race Bib Reuse: We reuse previous HPM race bibs instead of ordering new ones - They work perfectly fine and would otherwise go in the landfill
• Safety Pins for Race Bibs: Participants bring their own or, better yet, buy an HPM Race Belt to never use safety pins again
• Collection at check-in:
  • Old shirts to be recycled with Recover’s 360 Closed Loop Program
  • Old athletic shoes to be recycled and repurposed with GotSneakers
  • Old race medals to be recycled with Sports Medal Recycling
• Route design: The course consists of reoccurring 5Kish loops which means we can efficiently mark and team down the course on foot – Don’t get us started on what it takes to mark a road marathon – This also helps with the point below
• Cup Free Event: No need to use a cup for 2 seconds at each aid station and have it live in the landfill forever - We will not have cups at the aid station at the end of each loop - Participants are encouraged to carry their own water bottles or rehydrate at the turn of each loop – Our pals at Around the Crown 10K have even allowed us to use their excess HydraPak Speed Cups which we will have available at Check In
• Awards: Crowd sourced White Elephant-style awards table – 1st Place picks first, 2nd Place picks second, and we go from there … kinda fun
• All You Can Drink:
  • Bottomless Coffee with purchase of a reusable HPM x Black Coffee Roasting Co Tumbler (made by fellow 1% For The Planet member Earthwell)
  • Bottomless Trail Pass NA Beer with the purchase of a reusable HPM x Sierra Nevada Brewing Co Steel Pint (made from 90% recycled steel by fellow 1% For The Planet member Klean Kanteen)

There are, likely (hopefully), many other ways that events around the country are reducing their carbon impact, but for us, and our community, we’ll start by creating a bad-ass event that will have a good-ass impact on our environment.

From a scientific, ROI, and spreadsheet standpoint, is it worth all of our time and effort to develop, plan and deliver a Carbon Negative weekend event like this? Hell no … Not even close!
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But is it worth it from an artistic and “gut feeling” of instilling environmentally conscious consumer habits into our HPM audience? Hell yeah … We are impacting our planet in a positive way. I can’t put that in a scientific report, but it sure as hell feels good when I go to bed each night.

​Join us.

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Journal - What Is A Carbon Negative Event?