2012 London Olympics to Go Green
London happens to be the first Summer Olympics Host City of the Olympic Games to incorporate sustainability in its planning strategies from the very beginning. They hope to use the Olympic Games as a catalyst for regeneration and change in order to improve the quality of life of people in East London and promote sustainable living in the entire UK. How green would be the 2012 Olympics? London Olympics organizers are taking every effort to ensure that the Green Olympic Games will bring about environmental and local community benefits.
Sustainable Olympic Games 2012
London intends to be host to the most sustainable Olympic Games in 2012. The Sustainability plan pays more attention on following key factors:
Minimizing Wastes:
They are reducing waste at each and every phase of the venture, making sure virtually no waste or garbage is sent to landfill in the course of Olympic Games.
River Lea is the second largest river of London. However, till recently, it was hidden underneath millions of tones of filth, dirt and garbage. Now the filth has been eliminated and the river has been revived to its usual self, thanks to the 2012 London Olympics.
Climate and Biodiversity:
The plan ensures that the green house emissions have been controlled. Measures are also taken to cope with climate changes which may occur during the games. They have also taken measures to ensure that the natural habitats and the biodiversity are not affected by the Games.
To live up to its vow to be the greenest Olympic Games, London has made many efforts. It started off with its mission by greening the site which would house the Olympic Park. The site is a neglected industrial estate in Stratford’s East End Suburb. This site was filled with the rubble from Blitz, tins of industrial solvents and paints and many abandoned vehicles. The heaps of garbage were 15 meters above sea level and hid the original landscape completely.
Even the work at the river Lea is remarkable. The project commenced with the demolition of two hundred buildings as well as the elimination of 1.3 million tonnes of rubbish. In many huge building projects, the end result would be million tonnes of rubbish trashed elsewhere. But this time
95% of the demolished substance has been re-used in new building constructions. A pair of soil hospitals on location employed pressurized steam to recycle and clean 80 % of the 1.4 million tonnes of polluted soil. Purchasing and cleansing the area cost £1 billion ($1.5 billion).
The area surrounding the new Olympic constructions – which includes an aquatic centre, a velodrome and a stadium- have been converted into a park. This makes it ecologically stable. It has also been repopulated by native wildlife: 300 lizards, 4000 newts and 100 toads. Gardeners replanted trees in another location by taking clippings from numerous native trees. They reseeded the land with wild flowers and grass.
Most of the woodwork won’t be coated, conserving chemicals and time and permitting the recycling of wood used. Locations have been created for purely natural cooling therefore just 14 % of it is going to be air-conditioned. Most of the seats are going to be taken on rent. The stadium as well as the aquatic center is going to be trim down by hundreds of seats following the Games to ensure they are an appropriate size for common use.
Facts about London 2012 Green Build
The Velodrome is practically100 % naturally ventilated and it utilizes sunlight to lower power usage and rain water will be accumulated from the roof for flush toilets and to irrigate.
The Olympic Stadium’s roof was created from unwanted gas pipelines.
Water utilized to tidy the swimming pool filters inside the Aquatics Center is going to be reused for flushing toilets.
The foundations for the roads and venues have utilized recycled materials and several of the bridges and venues will possess green habitat spaces integrated into roofs and walls.
Around hundred hectares of new parklands are made for the people and it consists of wildlife with more than 4,000 trees and more than 300,000 wetland plants.
Facts about sustainable transport for London Olympic 2012
The spectators coming to watch the Olympic Games will be either using public transport or will be coming by foot or by riding a bicycle. Investments have been made to improve the existing services, public transport and infrastructure. The 80 km walking and cycling routes have been improved.
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