US EditionThis runner was bothered by blizzard of disposable cups at races. She invented something better
- Kristina Smithe ran the 2019 California International Marathon where she noticed the large waste from disposable cups at 17 aid stations serving 9,000 runners.
- Concerned by the 150,000 disposable cups discarded during the race, she created a flexible, lightweight silicone container designed for repeated use.
- Smithe founded Hiccup Earth, renting 70,000 reusable cups to races nationwide to replace typical paper cups that often have plastic linings and persist in landfills.
- She estimated that her cups have replaced 902,000 disposables over 137 races and noted her surprise at the ongoing sustainability challenges within California, while her washing process consumes only 30 gallons of water per 1,500 cups.
- Experts like Sarah Gleeson at Project Drawdown view reusable cups as scalable tools among many needed solutions to reduce plastic waste and greenhouse gas emissions globally.
56 Articles
56 Articles
Marathons produce tons of plastic cup waste. One runner came up with a solution.
Kristina Smithe wanted to clean up road races. So she came up with a solution: a reusable silicone cup that race organizers can rent to avoid the single-use throwaways. She says her company, Hiccup Earth, has kept 902,000 disposable cups out of landfills.
Bothered by blizzard of disposable cups at races, runner invented something better
Kristina Smithe was running the California International Marathon in 2019, grabbing cups of water to stay hydrated, when she started to think about how much waste such events produce. On the flight home, she did the math: 9,000 runners, 17…
Associated Press News
This runner was bothered by blizzard of disposable cups at races. She invented something better
Kristina Smithe was running a marathon in California a few years ago when she started thinking about all the waste such events produce — especially the blizzard of disposable paper cups that can pile up at water spots.
Runner bothered by blizzard of disposable cups at races invented something better
Kristina Smithe was running a marathon in California a few years ago when she started thinking about all the waste such events produce — especially the blizzard of disposable paper cups that can pile up at water spots
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