Going for the Gold and the Green in the 2010 Winter Olympics
Posted by Lisa Carey
The 21st Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada have record numbers of fans watching from all over the world. Olympic planners know that many fans aren’t just looking for the gold, silver, and bronze. They are also looking for the green.
Preparing to host the Winter Olympics takes an enormous amount of space, resources, and man-hours. The impact on a hosting city is enormous and those who are eco-conscious are watching to see that the huge impact on the hosts’ environment isn’t a negative one. While ensuring there was enough white, as in snow, was one challenge, planners were hoping to make this the greenest Olympic games in history. The hosting city, Vancouver, Canada has already committed to being a green city by 2010. VANOC, the Vancouver Olympic Committee, began calculating the carbon emissions for holding the Olympics as soon as they won the bid seven years ago. After some adjustments, including indirect emissions such as visitor’s flight, VANOC estimated that there could have been 270,000 tons of carbon emissions through the end of the 2010 Winter Olympics that were Olympics related. From there, the company began to look at how carbon emissions could be cut. The committee is shooting for 180,000 tons, or a “carbon-neutral”, Olympics.
To that end, there have been many green initiatives involved in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Here are some of the ways the Vancouver Olympics are going green.
Greener Public Transportation:
The public transport system in Vancouver has been expanded for the Olympics, including running more buses and trains. Vancouver residents as well as Olympic visitors are being encouraged to take advantage of public transport. Vancouver has offered bus and train tickets with Olympic tickets in lieu of creating parking lots. The city also worked with companies to encourage telecommuting to lessen traffic during this time. All of these changes could have a long lasting impact on transportation in Vancouver, reducing long term both traffic and air pollution.
VANOC also implemented vehicle sharing, lower speed limits, and a no-idling policy to reduce emissions during the games.
Green Building:
Olympic Village, a nine-block area that will host 10,000 athletes, has many green initiatives. Half the roofs have “green roofs” that are covered with plants to help hold in cold or hot air and reduce energy usage. The other half of the roofs will be flat and act as rainwater collectors. The rainwater will be stored and used throughout Olympic buildings. Olympic Village utilizes dual flush toilets that use the collected rainwater to flush. This will reduce the consumption of potable water by an estimated 40 to 50%.
Green Purchasing:
VANOC is using a “Buy Smart” program to find products to be purchased from sustainable companies from inner city or Aborigine communities.
According to Kevin CuChame of the Buy Smart committee, “The Buy Smart program aligns with VANOC’s values and incorporates all of our objectives related to sustainability and Aboriginal participation. It is more than just a guideline; we are accountable for it.”
Green Food Service:
The Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Center, which also has a green roof and seawater heating and cooling systems, is offering a “Happy Earth” menu that features local and organic ingredients.
Despite having to bring snow, Linda Coady, Pice-President, Sustainability for VANOC, says they are on track, “Within our carbon forecast, we do have contingency built in there for variability of this nature, and we’re standing by our 118,000 tons figure”.
There have been, of course, many accusations of “green washing” regarding the 2010 Winter Olympics. There will no doubt be many green lessons to be learned. One thing VANOC has accomplished is keeping eco-friendly ideas on the table to emulate. We don’t have to be gold medal winners or Olympic hosting cities to implement some of the green initiatives here, like using rainwater, public transportation, and buying products and foods from local and sustainable sources.
So what do you think? Do the 2010 Winter Olympics get a medal for going green?
Popularity: 2% [?]
