The Olympics are over, and Para-Olympics yet to begin. Canada won more gold medals than any country ever in the history of the Winter Games! Canada showed the world just “whose game” hockey is in their “edge of your seat” victory over the US. Canadian athletes captured the hearts of the world, and BC’s breathtaking scenery certainly captured their eyes.
But when the “highs” finally fade, financial reality will set in for those of us who call Vancouver home. Rate hikes by BC Hydro (about 9 percent) and inching-up gas prices indicate the “adjustment” is starting. Will we find ourselves nauseous atop the “porcelain throne,” like college fraternity members waking up after a two-week “budget bender?”
Bottom line: It’s hard to be totally awesomely “green” when you are going totally awesomely broke.
For example, over the next two years provincial funding for the arts will be gutted by 88%. School closures will once again make headlines. Poverty and homelessness in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side will remain a pressing problem harder to address with budget shortfalls. And don’t look now, but is that axe going to hit important Medicare programs?
Our friends at Dogwood Initiative have a great piece, with an eye-opening chart and informative interview, on “Unspinning the BC Budget”. See it here.
Green or not green?
Vancouver’s consistent “Green Messaging” throughout the Olympics paints an eco-forward, altruistic picture of Vancouver as the Greenest City ever, hosting the greenest Olympics ever.
So as the compost drum turns…is it… “Green or not Green?”
Green.
The athlete’s 2010 Olympic Village at False Creek was a triumph of Green building technology. From using captured methane gas from a former landfill for energy, to using waste heat expelled from a nearby wastewater treatment facility for heat, the village is a Green medal winner.
Green transportation also scored big during the games, though with substantial sticker shock: eighty-nine million dollars. But the hydrogen and fuel-cell fleet of green buses and smaller vehicles, and the new Canada Line system will improve public transportation.
Recycling is a Vancouver tradition, and played a prominent role in the 2010 Winter Games. It’s good that recycling bins are everywhere. They’re one thing a city can never have too many of. Still, you can lead a rowdy partier to the recycling bin but you can’t make them use it…
Vancouver is committed to a net-zero carbon footprint. As officials track the carbon footprint of the games, we will post results. Vancouver does win a Green medal for effort.
Points for Trying: the now-famous ice-cleaning machine that kept breaking down during men’s speed skating was engineered to be “green”, but just couldn’t cut it on the ice. It ended up being priceless publicity for Zamboni, which brought a machine in from Calgary to save the day.
Not Green.
Trucking and flying in massive amounts of snow to Cypress when our warm weather gave a whole new meaning to “green Winter Olympics.” Could there have been an alternative? Was this the only way to deal with the situation? Possibly. But the massive amounts of fossil fuel burned simply to whiten our green slopes for a sporting event gets a “not green” thumbs down.
Really Not Green
Much has been written about sponsor Coca Cola’s “green” Olympic efforts. And they may very well win a medal for “greenwashing.” But calling the Coca Cola Company “green” is like calling Dick Cheney a pacifist.
Coca Cola is famous for privatizing public water supplies, most notably in India, then polluting and poisoning them, systematically harming both the local environment and economy.
Coca Cola’s products are also NOT green. The concoction of industrial chemicals sold as “soda” is actually full of potential carcinogens and environmental toxins. Very recently Coca Cola has also been under investigation in China for mercury poisoning in their Beijing plant. Click here to read more.
To better understand why Coca Cola is “Not Green” check out the well-done 2008 documentary “Flow: For Love Of Water” or visit click here.
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