Recently, I posted about some initiatives Olympics organizers have taken to make the London games more eco-conscious. Many of you were cautiously optimistic about what this means for future games. Kind Lifer Antonio pointed out that there’s a fair amount of greenwashing going on at this Olympics, and shared an article about greenwashing at the Olympics.
Most notably, some prominent Olympics sponsors are among the worst environmental offenders, including BP, Dow Chemical, and Rio Tinto. Protesters in London held a mock event called the Greenwash Gold 2012 Awards and were arrested for performing their “awards” ceremony in Trafalgar Square.
These quick animated videos demonstrate just how bad these three Olympics sponsors are:

BP Oil has caused deforestation and environmental destruction all over the world, devastating animal populations and obliterating the traditional cultures of indigenous peoples.

Rio Tinto is a mining company providing metal for the medals to be awarded at the Olympic games. Their operations have produced deadly air pollution in Utah and endangered water sources in the Gobi desert.

In 1984, Union Carbide caused the death of 25,000 people in Bhopal, India, because of a deadly gas leak at one of their factories. People still suffer from it to this day. Union Carbide is now a subsidiary of Dow Chemical. It’s sad that this is the way of our world…where the guy with the most money, who made money from causing harm, gets to promote himself with the bad money he made, thereby making more money….it’s a frustrating cycle.
 
Realistically speaking, what companies who could afford it, but maintain kinder practices would make better Olympic sponsors?