We all know that the Olympics just ended last night in Vancouver, Canada. Well, what many don’t know is that on the eve of the opening ceremonies all the major Canadian corporations came together to discuss transferring to a primarily green business. Not only did these CEO’s decide to create a green business but also decided to use the Olympics as a “tipping point”. Furthermore more sustainable energy uses were used at the actual Olympics.
First of all this year for the first time the winter olympics used Pulse Energy’s technology to consume less energy. They measured that the games saved approximately “16% of energy consumed since the start of the games”.
Lastly, the symbol of the Olympics has always been the torch that is lit at the beginning of the games and stays lit until the closing ceremonies. This year for the first time the Olympic flame went green. The torches used as many recyclable materials as possible and about “95% of the materials were sourced locally within Canada. Also the fuel used “emits 30 percent fewer greenhouse gases than [the usual] oil-based fuel” would.
Personally I think that the Olympics “going green” is a great step and a great idea. This marks a great step in us moving forward as using more sustainable practices in more of our sporting events, a major part of our culture. Furthermore, with Canada using the Olympics as a stepping stone to transfer their businesses to become sustainable gets the U.S one step closer to also adopting more sustainable practices.
I think that it is great that the olympics went so green this year. It is also very nice to see that major ceo's of companies in Canada got together by themselves and decided to improve their companies for the better. The fact that 95% of the recycled materials used in the making of the torches were all from canada is great. The more local recycling that is done the better for us all. I have a question about the medal's being made out of e-waste though. Did it use more energy to get the e-waste and form it into medals than just extracting it. Also what is the cost difference between the two.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it was a great idea for the Olympics to go green. Eighty-two teams participated in the Olympics so think of how many people in that many countries watched them and saw/heard about the green steps that Canada took. I read an article about the design of the Olympic complex and stadium and think it was designed very well. The Convention Centre has a living roof that was meant to appear like it was a part of the neighboring park. The design is aesthetically pleasing as well as sustainable. However, I would question the amount of resources needed for the opening ceremony. It was very lavish, and long, and with the amount of projectors they used, I wonder what energy source they used to run the show. If they didn't do that in a sustainable way, it almost seems to counteract every other measure they took throughout the games.
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