A Greener Olympics

This guest post was submitted by Daniel Fielding, the editor of Shades of Green, a blog highlighting developments made towards preserving the environment and improving quality of life.

The London Olympic committee's workforce reached a milestone of over 12,000 strong this week. This wouldn't be big news: unless you consider the fact that half of these jobs can be designated as sustainable. Everything from the toilets in the Olympic Village, to the swimming pools heater will be employing sustainable technology at levels never seen before on such a large scale.

Looking back at the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing, an international spotlight shined on the environmental degradation and human harm that was occurring in China. The capital city and the Chinese governmental received a great deal of criticism for the country’s environmental irresponsibility, yet this negative attention also exerted extreme pressure on the Chinese government to take on greater national responsibility for environmental issues. Whether the Chinese government was actually able to prevent and decrease the amount of air pollution produced in the capital city is still up for debate. However this example works to exemplify that the international attention the Olympics evokes has the power to transform domestic and international environmental policy.

To this end, the official Olympic Games sponsors, GE & Dow Chemical, will be integral in compelling host countries in making critical assessments of their environmental policies. General Electric has promised their wind turbines and solar panels in an effort to provide renewable energy to the games. Dow Chemical is the official chemical corporation sponsor of the Olympic Games. Dow has given their commitment to minimizing the games' negative environmental impact on the environment. Dow feels as though this will be possible through eliminating excess waste and conserving resources.

"With our long-standing commitment to global sustainability, innovation, scientific excellence and addressing world challenges, we believe Dow is perfectly matched to the vision of the Olympic Movement."
--Andrew Liveris, CEO and chairman of Dow Chemical

This partnership and sponsorship exhibits the private sector commitment to a sustainable and green world. Viewers of the Olympics will see that it is not solely centered on sports. The spirit of the Olympics is not just competition and athleticism; it is about collaboration, innovation, and camaraderie.

Andrew Liveris has directed and master minded recent developments scheduled to be publically released and implemented over the new few years. Some of his sustainable innovations include advanced solar collectors, environmentally friendly safety equipment, and waste water reclamation.

An Olympic host city can also be affected by implementation of these innovations. Initiatives like the Olympic Sponsors' Summit will offer economic opportunity to the lagging economies of many international cities. Host cities will enjoy benefits like a boost in the city’s tourist economy, increased local employment, as well as corporate sponsorship and contract offers ranging anywhere from $250 USD.

The Olympic Games unite individuals from all over the world in a celebration of competition and athleticism. Hosting an Olympics offers a country the opportunity to proudly display their culture; why don't we include setting an example on sustainability to that honor.