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Some Say Olympic Green Efforts Fall Short

Posted by: Nate Berg

11 September 2009 - 12:00pm

Organizers of next year's Winter Olympics in Vancouver are hoping to add a green sheen to the international event, but some critics say they aren't doing enough to offset the huge carbon footprint the Olympics will carry.

The Olympics will be "pretty green", according to Linda Coady, the Vancouver Organising Committee (Vanoc) vice-president for sustainability.

"There had been a target of diverting all extra waste away from landfill, such as by recycling or composting. This has proved impossible, so now that target has been lowered to 85% of the waste. It is too early to say whether this can be achieved.

Ms Coady says they hope their programmes for reducing and offsetting carbon emissions will set a new standard for the Olympic movement.

Her team has been working with a forecast of about 330,000 extra tonnes of carbon.

They expect a third of that to come from their own operations, and two-thirds to be indirect emissions from air travel for the Games. They hope to revise the total forecast down to 300,000 extra tonnes."

But the organizers could be doing a lot more, according to Canadian scientist and environmental activist David Suzuki.

Full Story: Vancouver 2010: Going for Green?
Source: BBC, September 10, 2009
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