Dartboard

Issue 4 March 2023

Team DFOK will be in action this month at the Compass Sport Cup heats on 12th March at Worthlodge. We have a very strong team with 39 runners and it would be great to get to the final for the first time! We will be competing against GO, HAVOC, LOK, MV and SAX.

On the whole, orienteering is a much more sustainable sport than other sports, but this is not to say that we cannot go the extra step to protecting our environment when we attend events.

The first, and probably the biggest issue is that most events are in remote locations and so it is necessary to drive to an event. At regional or national events there can be over 400 cars coming to events which has quite a considerable impact on orienteering’s carbon footprint. To limit the amount of cars that come to events, we could use public transport where possible and at remote events, try to car share with other club members or friends! Not only is this a sustainable way of traveling to events, it can also be a social occasion. Not only this, new areas with limited parking facilities can be used for events as there is a much lower demand for car parking.

Next, event organisers and planners can ensure that control descriptions are printed on the back of old or unused maps. This ultimately reduces paper consumption during an event.

This is often overlooked when reading final details or safety notices etc.. But before turning up to an event, we can ensure our shoes are as clean as possible. This is because when we get mud on our shoes and don’t clean them before going to another forest, we risk carrying diseases from one place to another. It is just like picking up a virus from someone, not following proper hygiene and then passing it on to someone else. There are some cases in the UK where whole forests have been cut down due to disease. To prevent cases like this, we could all spend an extra few seconds after an event getting as much mud off our shoes as possible!

Finally, we could hold charity orienteering events to raise money for environmental charities or supporting tree planting organisations.

These are all very little things, but big things come from people coming together to make small changes! By following these few small steps, we are one big step closer to making orienteering a carbon neutral sport!

Luke Bennett (Editor)