Most people think that incorporating sustainability into everyday lives and massive government undertakings, like sporting events, is a development of recent years. When I say recent, let me make it clear that this means in the ballpark of 5 years. What they’d be surprised to find out is that they’re entirely wrong. The best example of a sustainable initiative that was largely unadvertised is the Sydney Olympic Park in Australia. Sydney hosted the Olympic Games in 2000, winning the bid well before the “green boom,” and everyone’s sudden interest in saving our planet. When they won the bid, most of their money went into remediating land that was swallowed by landfills, and turning it into beautiful, safe parks and recreational areas. Instead of using the Olympics as an excuse to excavate the life out of their city and build exquisitely complex buildings instead of keeping biodiversity, a large portion of the money they spent went into preserving ecosystems and restoring previously distu...

Il est difficile d'organiser un événement sans impact sur l'environnement lorsqu'il est aussi vaste et complexe que les Jeux olympiques et paralympiques d’hiver de 2010. Toutefois, le Comité d’organisation (COVAN) a pris une approche agressive dans le but d'intégrer la durabilité dans les jeux. Donc nous allons mettre de côté la controverse du passé et regarder certaines actions positives qui ont été effectuées. Tout d'abord, le comité d'organisation de Vancouver a travaillé avec l’ International Academy of Sport Science and Technology (AISTS) pour créer un guide du sport et événement durable. « L'objectif est double : pour produire des opérations et des événements durables; et d'inspirer les athlètes, les commanditaires et les admirateurs à faire leur part pour un avenir durable. » [1] De nombreuses mesures intéressantes ont été mises en place pour atteindre les objectifs de développement durable afin de devenir les premiers jeux carboneutres. - ...

It is difficult to host an event with no environmental impact when it is as large and complex as the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC). However, VANOC has taken an aggressive approach with the aim of building sustainability into the Games. So let’s put some of the past controversy aside and look at a few positive things that have been done. First of all, the Vancouver Organizing Committee worked with the International Academy of Sport Science and Technology (AISTS) to create a Sustainable Sport and Event Toolkit (SSET). “The goal is twofold: to produce sustainable operations and events; and to inspire athletes, sponsors and fans to do their part for a sustainable future.” [1] Many interesting measures have been put into place to reach sustainability objectives in order to become the first Carbon-Neutral Games. - LEED standards have been incorporated into venue design and construction. Eight sustainable venues are taking the waste heat and reusing it. In...