Going for the green

How many of you Eco Warriors are watching the Olympics this week?

Recycla and her family have been enthralled, from the very first moment of the opening ceremony.

And, of course, every evening, the family has been glued to their TV to see what happened during that day’s competitions.

One thing that Recycla has learned in the course of her TV-viewing is just how green the 2010 Winter Olympics are trying to be.  The Olympics are inherently wasteful, with a large number of people converging in one geographic area and using a lot of resources in a short amount of time; however, the Vancouver planning committee has actively sought ways to reduce the Winter  Games’ carbon footprint.  This goes beyond having a large number of recycling and compost bins in the different venues.

For example, did you know that the medals contain recycled materials?  It’s true.  Each of the medals contains a small amount of consumer electronics waste — such as from old TVs and computers — that would have otherwise gone into landfills.  How cool is that?

But that’s just one of many examples of just how green the Vancouver Olympics are.  Here are some others:

• Many buildings in the Olympic Village are LEED certified, plus most venues have reduced carbon footprints (as compared to other similar venues).
• When planning the games and the infrastructure needed to host so many people, the Vancouver Olympics committee installed systems that reused waste heat, irrigated with captured rainwater, and composted wood waste.
• As for travel around the games, there is a fleet of hydrogen-powered buses instead of gas-guzzling ones.  There is also a “no idling” policy in effect at the games.

While Recycla recognizes that the Olympics are still a drain on Mother Nature’s resources in the Vancouver area, she commends the planning committee for their diligence in trying to reduce the overall impact as much as possible.

If watching the world’s greatest athletes ski, skate, slide, and more has inspired you to get out in the snow yourself, check out this article on 10 eco-friendly ski resorts.

Tell the Eco Women:  What’s your favorite Olympic sport?