This week, we would like to give a shoutout to the Chicago Marathon on being recognized as the world’s largest certified sustainable event.

In a press release, the Council for Responsible Sport announced the 2014 Bank of America Chicago Marathon has been awarded Silver Level Certification for achieving 41 of the best practice standards offered in the Council’s certification program for social and environmental responsibility at sporting events.

The marathon is the second largest in the world, with 40,659 participants finishing the 2014 event in front of over a million spectators. It is the largest marathon to have earned certification from the Council since the organization was founded in 2008.

What people may not realize is how we impacted the sustainability effort of the Chicago Marathon. The Chicago Marathon has been a part of our Blankets to Boards program since 2011.

The Blankets to Board is an innovative recycling partnership with Trex® Company- the nation’s largest manufacturer of wood-alternative decking and railing products. It is a free program that allows events to recycle and re-purpose their Heatsheets. By coordinating a drop off point with a local Trex-affiliated retailer or grocery, all the marathon has to do is take the collected Heatsheets from the finish line to the drop off location. Over the years, Chicago Marathon has recycled thousands of their used Heatsheets.

We are proud to be a part of Bank of America Chicago Marathon’s sustainability efforts. We are looking forward to the Chicago Marathon in October and continuing to collaborate on recycling more Heatsheets with our Blankets to Board Program.