Gold Medal for Sustainability

Gold Medal for Sustainability

London 2012 – Sustainable Ethos

Back in 2012, when London hosted the Olympics, the aim was to be the ‘greenest games ever’. An independent commission was set up to monitor the environmental impact and a sustainable ethos was embedded in the design of the Olympic Stadiums, Transportation and natural, as well as urban regeneration.

In reviews of the event, the commission praised the use of recycled materials in the construction of Olympic venues, the success of public transport and effective waste management. It also stated that much more could be done to minimise the environmental impact of future games.

Rio 2016 – Highlighting Environmental Issues

The condition of the waters surrounding Rio along with issues relating to rehousing poor communities certainly hit the headlines in this year’s Olympics, yet the country did make a number of significant steps in the right direction. The Olympic committee committed to making the entire games carbon neutral, with over 50% already being offset.

In addition the country used the high profile event to highlight the importance of protecting the Brazilian rainforests and addressing climate change. They invested in biodiesel forms of transport, which will be a long term benefit in addressing carbon emission levels in one of the world’s largest cities.

Tokyo 2020 – Radical Steps Towards Sustainability

The sustainability baton has now been passed to Tokyo, and they have announced a radical move to create the Olympic medals from metals collected from discarded electronic devices. The board of Directors have agreed that recycled medals are one way to meet Olympic Agenda 2020 that places sustainability at the heart of every aspect of planning and execution.

A change in metal doesn’t distract from the level of commitment, talent and determination that goes into achieving it. We believe that being awarded as the world champion in your sport is surely the true value of an Olympic medal, would you agree?