Finisher T-shirt

Since its creation, the EcoTrail Paris has been committed to reducing its emissions in the fight against global warming, and is a pioneer in eco-responsible practices in sport. Today, we are striving to considerably reduce our waste and wish to continue our efforts in this direction.

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Industries are gradually moving towards more responsible production methods. Today, however, the textile industry is one of the biggest annual emitters of greenhouse gases: 5th after housing, direct impact of households, transport and food, according to the European Environment Agency. This means that 1.2 billion tonnes of GHGs are emitted every year, more than international flights and maritime traffic combined.

How does fashion affect the environment and our planet? Demonstrate in 5 steps:

1. Raw materials production

The production of raw materials, cotton or polyester, is the primary source of emissions in the manufacture of a T-shirt.

A quarter of the world's pesticides are used to grow cotton, and 2,700L of water are needed to produce one T-shirt. This quantity is equal to the total amount of water consumed by a French person for 17 days.

Polyester is an artificial fabric made from plastic: 40 million tons of polyester are produced every year. The carbon footprint of a polyester T-shirt is two and a half times greater than that of a cotton shirt.

2. Raw materials processing

The processing of raw materials requires the use of toxic and polluting chemicals, the use of which is still largely unregulated.

3. Transportation

Most of the clothes we buy come directly from China. In France, 50% of clothes sold are imported from China by sea or air.

But it's also the entire production chain that needs to be taken into account: raw materials are manufactured in one place, then sent to another for processing before being transported to their final destination.

4. How to use

When we machine-wash our clothes, 500,000 tonnes of microplastics end up in the oceans every year. Microplastics are notoriously non-biodegradable. Unfortunately, they are eaten by fish, which end up on our plates!

5. Recycling

The "fast fashion" trend drives us to regularly renew our wardrobes and encourages us to accelerate the pace of our purchases. 80% of the textiles we no longer use end up in landfill or are incinerated.

Today, the fashion industry is responsible for around 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions. By 2050, the textile sector could even account for 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions if current consumption trends continue.

For all these reasons, we have decided to do away with the finishers' T-shirts.

We feel that this "souvenir gift", even if it has a symbolic value for some, remains for many just another "tee-shirt" that will quickly end up in the back of the closet among many other race tee-shirts. As such, we feel we can do without it, while still guaranteeing a successful and responsible racing experience for all participants. We also think it's preferable not to offer any textile products to our participants if we don't have all the production guarantees.

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.