Image from: www.earthpm.com

 

It’s no secret and unless you live under the ocean you will know, the Olympic Games are in full swing. We all waited, almost holding our breath as the unimaginable was brought to life on the stage of the opening ceremony. A sense of pride swelled as the national teams paraded around the stadium and, for the first time in four years, the world came together to wave flags not to rage war. There is however far more to the Olympic Games than pageantry and pride.

For the first time in the history the games have been described as going green. London 2012 will be described as the most sustainable Olympic Games to date.  The carbon foot print of the entire project has been mapped out and every effort has been taken to keep the new facilities as eco-friendly as possible.

Starting with the stadiums, the London 2012 Olympic Stadium is the lightest in history, containing less that 10,000 tonnes of steel.  It’s not only the structures that are green either, but the way they were built too. In order to achieve lower CO2 emissions, more than 50% of the materials (by weight) for the Olympic Park were delivered by train. They even have an answer for the electricity supplied to the Games.

The state-of –the-art Energy Centre in the Olympic Park will help generate the electricity needed for the Games, reducing the carbon emissions even further. As for water, toilets will be flushed with the rain water collected from the run off from the roof – how apt in London! Public transport is sorted too. A high speed railway service named, The Javelin, will run between the Olympic Park and the centre of London in under seven minutes not only creating quick and easy access to the city but it cost effective and eco-friendly too.

It seems like the London 2012 team have thought of everything from building the stadiums to electricity and water and even the transport. The London 2012 Olympic Games are example of the amazing feats that can be achieved while still promoting environmental sustainability.