It seems that as time goes on, people are paying more and more attention to their impact on the environment.

This is good, of course, because anything we do individually to shrink our "footprint" collectively, will go a long way to improving our future and how we look at the world around us.

Many of us have made changes in how we live, but that doesn't always translate into how we play.

For the most part, it's just a matter of adjusting our environmental thinking. Just as many make conscious decisions on how they can help the environment in their everyday lives, adjusting attitudes during training and racing are equally important to living responsibly.

Keith Peters is a former race director and Nike employee. He, along with Road Race Management (www.rrm.com), will present a one-day workshop this April titled "How Green is My Event".

"It's kind of extending that mindset [that] our responsibility doesn't change just because we are at a fun event. The [cumulative] impact of what we do at those times is as impactful as what we are involved in all year long." Peters said.

As part of the Cherry Blossom 10-Mile Race weekend in Washington, D.C., the workshop will be a study about how race organizers and athletes can become more environmentally aware during competition.

Peters documents his personal quest towards environmental responsibility on his website, www.carbonneutraljournal.com. He began looking more closely at the subject of greening events when he participated in a 200-mile bike relay from Logan, Utah to his home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

"I was driving between my [relay] legs and I was in a long line of cars. It dawned on me, 'What is wrong with this picture?' People were riding bikes and hundreds of vehicles also were involved in the venture," Peters says. "The impact of that healthy, socially responsible event was probably a half-million miles of auto use."

Peters feels that people should try to do what they can without sacrificing basics. He breaks it down into three areas: transportation (getting to and from the event), waste and materials, (such as shirts, awards and meals). Peters believes that if people ask for environment- friendly changes to be made, and then support the events that make them, green events will become more common.

Right now, that isn't happening. In preparing for his workshop, Peters sent a survey to race directors asking how many of their participants, vendors and communities have made requests for greener events. Only about 30 percent said that they received such requests.

Peters does understand that many events are small, local affairs where organizers rely on volunteers and pay little, if at all. But he also thinks that if the participants ask for it, the marketplace will have to respond.

"Until participants demand it, or communities demand it, some of the [environmental] offerings aren't as likely to happen," he said. "It's a labor of love for them, and until they hear from people, we won't see change."

It is important to note that some events have moved towards impacting the environment in a positive way. Bottle recycling, shoe donation, reusable goody bags and organic-fabric race shirts can be seen in the Austin, San Antonio, Portland and Toronto marathons.

Copyright 2008 Chicago Athlete magazine