1% - It was many years ago that
we discovered 1% for the Planet, pre-running specialty, pre-children,
pre-marriage, in the back of a Patagonia catalog. The concept is simple-- 1% of sales goes to the
environment. I remember thinking… ”Someday,”
and then after we started Charm City Run, “We’ll never be able to do that.”
It has been almost 8 years, and
because of your support we are able to make this great and worthwhile
investment in our community. There
are many reasons why 1% for the Planet is wonderful and ingenious, but two stand
out.
First, there are no shenanigans. We, like many of you, have been asked
to purchase merchandise because a percent or portion of the proceeds goes to charity. A lot of companies do very well with
this line of marketing. While some
portion is better than no portion, I want to know what percent. 1% for the Planet receives the tax
return of every member company, so for every dollar you spend in Charm City Run,
a penny goes to the environment, period.
Plain, simple, effective.
Secondly, we have always
advocated shopping local and supporting local businesses. How could we marry 1% for the Planet
and our desire to support local initiatives? 1% for the Planet allows you to do just that. All our
contributions will stay local with the primary beneficiary in Year 1, and
probably beyond, being the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
When we go to the beach we
always run into people that remember swimming in the bay and being able to see
the bottom…what if….
Thank you for making this possible,
and thanks for allowing us to give Ben (9) an answer when he asks what we are
doing for the environment. Something,
not enough, but something.
I cannot thank our senior staff
(Brian, Caroline, Katie, Marie and Tom), Kelly, and the whole Charm City Run
family that never even paused when we presented this to them. The answer, as it usually is, was, absolutely
and how quickly can we get it done.
Thanks Guys.
live.give.run
The Environment
is important to us as it should be to everyone. One of the best benefits
of having a business is that you get to craft the image and culture of your
business in the community that it serves. This is a wonderful opportunity
and an enormous responsibility. To be honest, it is sometimes inefficient
and very costly to do the right thing. However, it is irresponsible to do
anything else but our very best. We will lead by example. We will:
Retail
-Continue to use post-use recycled
brown shopping bags which cost on the average 5 -20 times as much as regular
shopping bags
- Ask you if you want a bag
-Keep the floor temperature 1 degree
higher (in the summer) and 1 degree lower (in the winter) on average. If
you would like us to turn it down or up, please ask.
-Recycle all paper products
including all footwear shipping boxes, all shoe boxes left here and paper that
we use
-Recycle all bottles and cans
(Please pressure Baltimore County to provide commercial recycling service)
-Buy only recycled paper for our
printers
- Recycle all footwear. Since
we have opened we have given a 10% discount on footwear to anyone that brings
in an old pair of shoes to donate to the homeless, refugees abroad and other
third world countries.
-Continue to make an apparel
donation to Goodwill at the end of each calendar year.
Events
We
see a lot of runners and know that there is a lot of waste going on at running
events in and around the area. As part of all Charm City Run events we will:
-Provide more water in coolers and
less bottled water. Please hydrate as usual but when you go for seconds
and thirds, please fill up at the coolers.
-We will have large recycle bins for
bottles and cans, please throw only these items in the bins.
-Continue to ask you to register
online as frequently as possible
-Reduce the number of brochures that
we print on an annual basis
-Ask you if you are picking up
multiple packets for a race and if we can stuff race materials all in one bag.
