The 2024 Olympics are currently underway in Paris, France - and while a lot of news has been made about the cleaning of the River Seine and the ever-popular cardboard beds athletes sleep on in Olympic Village, this year’s Games have taken a number of additional steps in ensuring this year’s competitions are among the greenest in history.
With an overall goal of cutting carbon emissions in half from previous Olympics as part of Olympic Agenda 2020 (and the first Games to fully align with the agenda’s vision), the Paris Olympics faced a tall task of meeting their lofty goals - even after committing to 100 percent renewable energy, and building impressive sustainable food policies - including sourcing 80% of their food locally - through a dedicated food initiative (fun fact: the Olympics will serve 13 million meals over the course of the event).
However, by leveraging existing infrastructure - all venues are available by public transportation, are all within 10km of each other, and 95% are reused or temporary structures - and embarking on ambitious long-term projects, like redeveloping the Canal Saint Denis, the Paris Olympics has found new ways to innovate and further minimize the impact of the Olympics on the environment.
Some of these goals, like reducing the amount of furniture pieces needed from 800,000 to 600,000, certainly have proved easier than others; the cleaning of the River Seine remains an ongoing project, even delaying the start of the triathlon events after the heavy rain during Opening Ceremonies affected the water’s contamination levels. But the Games remain committed to their goals, not only to provide the safest, most environmentally friendly Olympics in history - but the most sustainable, bucking the longtime trend of disaster, degradation and waste left behind in Olympics past.
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