Marathon des sables

OPERATION DESERT CLEAN

KEEP THE DESERT CLEAN

If you love nature, the least you can do is respect it. For almost 35 years, the MARATHON DES SABLES has been totally committed to this principle.

As well as informing participants that they will get a penalty if they throw bottles or packaging on the route, ATLANTIDE ORGANISATION Internationale also looks for different ways to preserve the environment.

Ever since the third MDS, all water bottles have been numbered, so that anyone who abandons a bottle on the route, going from the start line, through the checkpoints to the finish line, incurs a penalty (Art. 27 & 28).

Two companies now work on cleaning the bivouacs. One of them gathers the waste, the other destroys it in a specially designed auto-combustion incinerator. A truck houses an auto-combustion incinerator that is capable of burning plastic and lightweight metal as well as organic matter. At the end of the race, several kilos of cinders are recuperated from the processing of daily waste generated by 1,500 people. Since 2007, the company GTR Maroc has been responsible for transporting the incinerator, which weighs 8.5 tonnes.

Every day, toilets are set up for the competitors, and maintained using biodegradable products that help dissolve waste matter.

Every little detail matters, and in 2008 AOI started supplying smokers with pocket ashtrays to stow their cigarette butts

CARBON FOOTPRINT

In its concern to precisely measure the greenhouse gas emissions produced by organizing the MARATHON DES SABLES, four years ago AOI generated its carbon footprint. The aim is to reduce these emissions using alternative energies, like solar, and compensate for them, for example by planting trees.

In its concern to precisely measure the greenhouse gas emissions produced by organizing the MARATHON DES SABLES, four years ago AOI generated its carbon footprint. The aim is to reduce these emissions using alternative energies like solar. During the 34th MDS, TERRE D'AVENTURES society paid the totally carbon compensation.

 

Reduce the volume of waste for runners and organizers

Reduce the volume of waste for runners and organizers

We ask you all, runners and organizers alike, to compress mineral water bottles to reduce the volume they take up in the bins. This socially responsible, ecological gesture is very simple, yet it can divide by three the number of bin bags that need to be picked up. It will make the task easier for teams doing the job and cut down the non-stop movement of vehicles in the bivouac.

This ecological gesture is effortless.

All you have to do is completely empty the bottle, unscrew the cap and press on each end, before throwing it into one of the containers located at the CP exit or in one of the bags hung on each tent.

A big thank you from the people who will be working to keep the desert clean.

dechetsThe MARATHON DES SABLES caravan consumes electricity for lighting, charging laptop computers for the organization and journalists, managing checkpoints on the route, charging mobile phones, etc. The standard solution for supplying energy is to use diesel-powered generators (i.e. non-renewable energy) to make electricity. The drawbacks are that the generators are polluting, noisy and require constant fuel and maintenance. In a sun-soaked country like Morocco, and for an event of this kind that promotes ecological and human values, it made sense to move away from non-renewable energy and use the sun. The aim is two-fold: firstly, MDS makes a minimum negative impact on the environment, and secondly, it shows that this type of race can be exemplary in the short term and educate future generations in the long term.

The Earth doesn’t belong to us,

it’s the heritage we leave our children.

38th EDITION

 

From 12 to 22 April 2024 ~ 250 km in 6 days

A Big Thank you

To our suppliers, partners, supporters, volunteers

MOROCCAN NATIONAL TOURIST OFFICE
OCP
Volkswagen
SOFAC
TGCC
MUTUAIDE
BODYCROSS
TV5MONDE
TERRES D'AVENTURE