Greenest Games Ever

Hosting the Olympic games in Canada, we have the opportunity to show the world how environmentally friendly Canadians are. Vancouver has taken considerable steps in ensuring these Olympic games will be the greenest yet. But there is one goal in particular that is falling very short of the proposed target. The Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) has slated the Olympic games to be a carbon neutral event, meaning that greenhouse gas emissions from one project would be used to offset emissions from another project.

VANOC commissioned a report from the David Suzuki Organization to help ensure that they would be carbon neutral. Originally they had planned to offset 328,000 tons of direct carbon emissions (mostly spectator transportation), but are falling very short of that goal. In fact, it's about 300,000 tons short. It's now estimated that VANOC will only offset 118,000 tons of direct carbon emissions.

The David Suzuki Organization says the reason for this is that only about five per cent of travelers will participate in carbon offset programs, despite the growing public support for action against climate change.

So despite VANOC's attempt at being environmentally friendly, it looks like these Olympic games might not be that green. And it's a responsibility that's weighing on everyone's shoulders, from event organizers to spectators. But, VANOC did managed to redeem their ailing carbon neutral program with a fun analogy. Saying that it's like setting out to cover the airline cost of a wedding party, but not taking into account the cost of all the unexpected guests that show up.

Day one.

I remember almost dropping a banana peel in the garbage once when I was younger. I say almost because one of my parents immediately jumped in to stop me. I also remember being the only kid in school who took the remainder of their lunch home at the end of the day because it was compost, not garbage. And I also remember spending hours picking up cigarette butts from my neighbor’s lawn and putting them in a container I so kindly made for them so they wouldn’t have to litter anymore. I even drew pictures all over it.

I suppose, that my respect for the earth is something that is deeply ingrained in me, so when choosing a topic for my school blog, the environment was of course my first pick.

Ultimately I hope that this blog will help to better explain the politically engaged environmental world, or failing that, to further infuriate others about the same subjects I care so deeply about.