This week, millions of people will travel to London to attend the Olympic games. While past Olympics have put a huge toll on our environment with the construction of various sports arenas and spike in energy usage during the games, London Olympic Authority has stated that they are aiming to make London 2012 the first sustainable Olympic games ever.

Here are some eco-friendly initiatives taking place for this year’s greener Games:

• Rainwater is being collected in order to reduce the amount of potable water used in the buildings.
• The construction industry has stated that they aim to source 25% of their supplies through recycling. Recycled aggregates are made from materials such as bricks and concrete that are crushed and reused in the construction of new buildings
• In addition to over 300,000 wetland plants, organizers have planted more than 4,000 trees and 130,000 plants and bulbs in East London’s 500-acre Olympic Park. Around 112 acres of Olympic Park has been set aside to attract birds, otters, water voles and amphibians.
• The Olympic Stadium uses less than half the steel of comparable stadiums, reducing its environmental impact and making it the lightest Olympic Stadium constructed to date.
• Five soil washing machines from Belgium were installed for the construction of Olympic Park, which will contain the athletes’ Olympic Village and several of the sporting venues including the Olympic Stadium and Aquatics Centre. By cleaning the soil on site, 95% of it has been reused, transport costs have been cut and less material has been dumped.
• For those of you going to the Games in London, make sure to use London’s public transportation system or rent a Barclay’s bike – you can dock them in any of the 400 locations in London’hs Zone One travel area when you’re done.

These initiatives seem like a step in the right direction. How can we make the next Olympics even more eco-friendly?
 
Photo: CNN