EcoTrail Paris® strengthens its responsible strategy

Adopting an eco-responsible attitude is above all a state of mind. Since its creation in 2008, the EcoTrail Paris® has never stopped reinventing itself to adapt to today's sustainable development challenges. This conviction is an integral part of the race's DNA. In this series of articles, we'd like to highlight the various environmental initiatives that have been put in place for this 14th edition (July 3 and 4).

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At a time when everyone is becoming increasingly aware of the challenges of sustainable development and global warming, the EcoTrail Paris® is becoming ever more innovative, introducing new initiatives with new suppliers every year. For this 2021 edition, the organization team has decided to evolve its approach to promote increasingly responsible purchasing. The event mobilizes considerable resources in terms of equipment, travel, time and sometimes even waste. To develop an EcoTrail Paris® that is even more sustainable, inclusive and supportive. An ambition to be built up over the years.

More responsible purchasing

With this in mind, EcoTrail Paris® has joined forces with the Agence des Économies Solidaires, a subsidiary of the Les Canaux association, whose mission is to support players in the solidarity-based and innovative economies in France and abroad. The structure, which has been mandated by Paris 2024 to act as an interface with SSE companies, has also come to help us develop our project through a program of support and networking with all its SSE partners. "Our ambition is to support private and public sector clients, and above all players in the sporting world, in developing their solidarity and circular purchasing policies. The agency extends the actions developed by ESS 2024. Over the past three years, we have developed an interesting and relatively pioneering expertise in promoting the arrival of SSE companies on the Paris 2024 Olympic Games market. The sporting DNA remains very important to us", assures Manuel Nunez, ESS 2024 project manager.

Agence des Économies Solidaires, a subsidiary of Les Canaux, explores new resources

For this first year of collaboration, the purchasing families for the EcoTrail Paris® organization cover various sectors of activity (cleaning, sanitation and mobility). With a sanitary protocol as strict as ever, adapted to exceptional conditions, this summer's flagship supply will obviously be hydro-alcoholic gel. A collaborative effort has been made in this direction. "Our collaboration with EcoTrail Paris® is very recent. For this first year, we wanted to take stock of the various needs, so as to be able to offer them suitable service providers. So we essentially sourced responsible suppliers. In collaboration with the teams, we have targeted several families of ahats. Given the current context, we felt it essential to supply hydroalcoholic gel. What's interesting is that specialized companies have played a key role in adapting to this pandemic. We also worked on catering and meal delivery services for volunteers. The selected service provider is from the disability sector. It's a really interesting collaboration that promotes two pillars: social responsibility and local production", he continues.

The finisher T-shirt

Good practices in sustainable development will also be evident at the finish line of the various races. In order to reduce the impact of our activity on the environment, EcoTrail Paris® has made a strong choice for this 14th edition with the suppression of the finisher tee-shirt. Although this gift has a symbolic value for each participant, it is increasingly harmful to the planet, from design to transport and recycling. "We are fully aware that this is a tough decision that will create frustration and discontent among all our participants, but we are convinced that this choice is becoming essential at this stage of our development. We hope to be quickly followed by other organizers for the good of our planet", assures the EcoTrail Paris® organization.