Greenwash Watch: Carbon-Neutral Olympic Torch
by Matthew Sparkes, London, UK 
on 10.26.07
Apparently, the 2012 Olympic flame is going to carbon neutral. Does that strike anyone else as bonkers? The 2012 Olympics is going to be a huge, polluting event, with thousands of people flying all over the world to attend and compete. Making a carbon neutral flame seems, to me, like a drop in the ocean.
I think that what it shows is how important public perception is, and how it's vital that any event now is seen to be doing the right thing for the environment.
Now, that's not a bad thing. What is a bad thing, though, is that a huge polluting event can be given the image of environmental awareness, and generic 'green' status, simply by making such a small gesture.
Of course, choosing the flame is perfect; it’s an iconic image, guaranteed to grab headlines.
Now, at this point many of you are probably thinking back to previous posts where we have mentioned what else the Olympic committee are doing to clean up the event. A large effort has been made, I’m sure, but my point is that all that is needed to appear green is clever PR.
An oil company can change it’s logo to green, and that works. A huge factory can install a few solar panels, and that works, too. People will write articles about it, and many more people will read them. We at TH are as guilty of this as anyone, but I like to think that we can offer a bit more insight into what is actually going on. Not cynicism, but a little realism.
I don't mean to be down on the Olympics - I don't mean to imply that the event is in any way negative, because I am truly looking forward to it. I also don't mean to imply that it's any more or less polluting than any other event; indeed, I think that the committee are making a good effort on that front. This story simply struck me as a clever marketing technique, and a good way to illustrate how 'green washing' can colour our opinion. ::The Telegraph ::Picture Source
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I'm going to boycott anything having to do with the 2012 Olympics in China.
I will read blogs about it, especially here on TreeHugger, which hopefully have a correspondent on site (risking his/her health in doing so) letting us know *just how bad* their greenwashing is.
Hell, I've even added the word 'greenwashing' to my Firefox dictionary.
So the Olympics is a bad thing now? Any major entertainment event has to be bad because tons of people go there?
The Olympics bring unity among nations, and a chance to compete for fun across all borders. It brings the world together, helps host nation/city encourage more people to come, gives us a look at the modern athletic skills people have, and a ton of things.
And the Olympics comes once in every 4 years. I'm quite sure that by being carbon-neutral and making the Games greener will allow the Olympics to run cleanly, and still give the world a real spectators' event.
This whole post sounds dumb, any major entertainment event is bound to draw thousands of people, producing a lot of carbon waste, but as long as they try to be more greener at it, what's to complain about?
Quikboy, you miss my point. C-H-I-N-A
Currently the world's worst polluter and total disregard for the planet, people, ecosystems.
I totally support the Olympics everywhere else, except Saudi Arabia, for the same reasons.
Quikboy, you miss my point. C-H-I-N-A
Currently the world's worst polluter and total disregard for the planet, people, ecosystems.
I totally support the Olympics everywhere else, except Saudi Arabia, for the same reasons.
Right, because the US steps so lightly on Gaia.
@Mark Denali:
China is in 2008.
London 2010.
Check your facts. I was going to mention about this to you, but I forgot.
And China has improved considerably since it got the bid. It encouraged China to make Beijing much greener, and it's highly evidenced by the extraordinary tasks they're working on. Planting tons of trees along freeways, destroying high-polluting factories, extending subway lines, etc.
So the Olympics really do affect host cities being green.
Beijing 2008
Vancouver 2010 (winter olympics)
London 2012
Read Wikipedia!
@quikboy
Uh... speaking of checking facts, it's London 2012
Quickboy, your facts are incorrect as well.
Beijing is the host of the 2008 Summer Games.
Vancouver is the host of the 2010 Winter Games
London is the host of the 2012 Summer Games
Sochi, Russia is the host of the 2014 Winter Games
As for my thought on the perceived hypocracy, or whatever you want to call it. I think the Olympics is one of the few events that transcends my environmental thoughts. I think the carbon neutral flam is an incredible sign to the entire planet about the impact of Climate Change.
It may be just a drop in the Ocean. But it's one more drop and a large drop in that
If you read the article that this links to, the torch is but one of the many things they are doing. It's not a substitute for greening other aspects--it's just that the effort wouldn't be complete without addressing this. I think it's a nice idea--a way to facilitate feeling good about this symbol. Of course it has to be done in conjunction with efforts on many other fronts, but it sounds like they are making a good effort on those.
@Mark Denali:
The U.S. is still the worlds biggest polluter.
China is on track to overtake the U.S. in another 13 years.
I remember reading that China will overtake the U.S as the worlds biggest emitter of Carbon, sometime this year though.
And they say green is not a trend.
Mark... Boycotting China? Like that would help.
Yeah, maybe China contributes to a lot of pollution, but so does the rest of the world. Boycotting a country will not help. Besides, what about Mexico and the US's own contribution to all this?
Oh, and please get your facts right before you get all high-and-mighty' over other countries - it's disrespectful. At least China is somewhat trying to raise green awareness. (and it wasn't even about China in the first place... L-O-N-D-O-N 2012!)