How green are the 2010 Winter Olympics?

With such a grand, global audience – an estimated 3 billion television viewers worldwide – the 2010 Winter Olympic Games are an excellent venue to highlight eco-responsibility at every corner. So, just how “green” are this year’s Games?

The 2010 Winter Olympic Games begin on February 12th in Vancouver; officially kicking off 17 days of nearly 5,550 athletes from over 80 countries competing before the eyes of the entire world. With such a grand, global audience – an estimated 3 billion television viewers worldwide – the games are an excellent venue to highlight eco-responsibility at every corner.

Leading brands go green

First up: corporate sponsorship. Obviously with such a huge audience, advertising opportunities are running rampant. This year, a new corporate sustainability program has been introduced, called the Vancouver 2010 Sustainability Stars program, that highlights the leading innovations in sustainability made by Games sponsors, partners and organizers.

So far, over 60 “sustainability stars” have been awarded to leading purveyors of corporate responsibility. Among them is Coca Cola, whose Waste Diversion Program ensures that 95% of waste generated during the Games will be diverted from landfills. Other recyclables, like shrink wrap and cardboard trays, will be taken to Richmond, British Columbia recycling center. The company will also reduce its carbon emissions and purchase Gold Standard carbon offsets.

Also making the list is the Panasonic. The maker of everything “techy” is offsetting its carbon emissions generated by and for the Games by an estimated 416 tons. Sure, it would be better if the carbon wasn’t spewed in the first place, but at least their offset money will be put to good use elsewhere in an effort to make up for the impact.

Panasonic is also co-sponsoring a youth digital video contest and spearheading an “Eco-Ideas” exhibit for sustainability initiatives.

Big opportunities for cultural endorsements

Stepping outside the festivities, the Games present some great opportunities for the indigenous cultures of Canada, with aboriginal involvement extending far beyond performances as tribes are encouraged to participate economically and athletically.

Vancouver’s Olympic Committee (VANOC) is following Agenda 21, an International Olympic Committee document written in 1999 that called for Olympic host nations to use the Games as a means of creating sustainable development for traditionally disadvantaged groups, including indigenous peoples.

The Four Host First Nations (referring to the Lil’wat, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh, the four tribes who originally occupied the land on which the Olympic events will be held) will be a visible presence when the torch arrives in Vancouver this week, as will the culture of indigenous people from other parts of Canada.

With over $2 billion being spent to prepare for and host the Olympics, VANOC has attempted to “optimize opportunities, both for Aboriginal businesses and those that strongly support the Aboriginal community.” The goal of producing sustainable development has affected the way that the Olympic Committee makes purchases and awards contracts.

Meanwhile, special competitions have been organized for indigenous youth over the last five years. These mildly competitive events were held with the goal of identifying athletic talent in indigenous communities, with promising participants invited to attend sports-specific camps to develop their skills and capitalize on their previously undiscovered athletic prowess.

VANOC has also aided in the funding of the First Nations Snowboard Team, which competes at events in British Columbia and provides a recreational outlet for indigenous youth.

Local, native arts exhibited on a global scale

Native arts are not only incorporated into official Vancouver 2010 merchandise, but into the Games’ very identity as well.

The 2010 Winter Games emblem – a contemporary interpretation of the inukshuk – is a rock stacked in human form by Inuit people of Canada’s Arctic.

Meanwhile, apparel with Olympic-oriented designs made by First Nations artists and souvenir-type merchandise made by native craftspeople will be available for spectators – a way for locals to monetize the indigenous cultural participation that has been seen in past Olympics.

Athletes go for green gold

As Olympic staff, volunteers and celebrities carry the Olympic torch across the world, they can leave a pretty big footprint on the planet’s resources. The Olympic Torch Relay Footprint Reduction – a new addition to the Vancouver 2010 festivities – is working to reduce the harmful emissions and waste associated with this tradition, including incorporating cleaner, smarter transportation options and using recyclable materials.

Meanwhile, over 3,000 Olympic athletes themselves can rest their feet at the LEED Gold-certified Millennium Water village in Vancouver throughout the games. The village is the first phase of a model sustainability community project, which will transform a former brownfield site into a sustainable living showcase.

The village’s innovative developments include a “district energy system” that will will use residual heat from the city’s sewer pipes to warm the water that feeds into the village’s heating system. Also, hidden drains will siphon rainwater to be used on rooftop gardens in the summer and will be enough water to flush the toilets in the fall and winter.

Reducing energy while powering up

In previous years, Olympic Games have utilized nearly 600 diesel generators to provide backup and additional power in order to service the unique needs of the Winter Games. Often running idle needlessly, the generators did very little to ease the Games’ carbon emissions factor.

This year, a new and cleaner energy source – supplied by BC Hydro – will reduce carbon emissions by an amazing 90% over previous years. The system incorporates two separate underground power lines combined with an automatic switching system, meaning that if the power is lost in one feed, it will transfer the power to the second feed.

Crossing the finish line

And for the winners….recycled Gold, Silver and Bronze metals. Yes, that’s right, recycled, from recovered metal from electronic waste.

The medals are a creation of Canadian Aboriginal designer and artist Corinne Hunt, along with designers from the Royal Canadian Mint, Teck Resources Limited and VANOC.

After shredding, separating and heating end-of-life electronic components, the byproducts are combined with other metals to create the 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Medals.

Each medal was hand-cropped, ensuring no two are alike (a first in Olympic history) and are some of the heaviest Olympic and Paralympic medals ever. The unique free-form shapes are said to be reminiscent of British Columbia’s mountains, sea and snow.

“Our employees worldwide are honored to supply the metals for the medals that will be cherished by the world’s best winter athletes in 2010,” said Teck’s President and CEO Don Lindsay. “We’re also excited that these medals will contain recycled metal recovered from end-of-life electronics, consistent with the sustainability philosophy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

Being a part of history

Planning on making your way to Vancouver for the festivities? Bring a coat. And some warm gloves. And your best cheering voice.

But even more importantly, look into how you can do your part by easily calculating and offset your trip’s impact.

Hope for the future

Will the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver serve as a proper sustainable model and blueprint for future Games, as well as a call for better social responsibility? Perhaps. What is evident though is the immediate surge of effort put forth by VANOC in creating a sustainable, responsible event for the global stage. Where it goes from there is up to future generations of athletes and spectators alike.

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Canada, community, events, indigenous cultures, Olympics, sports, Vancouver