July 2012

Greening London 2012 Olympics

When London bid to host the 2012 Games, they made a radical proposal to the International Organising Committee. They weren’t only going to put on the biggest sporting event in the world; they were going to hold the world’s first truly sustainable Olympic and Paralympic Games, leaving a legacy far beyond the departure of the Olympic Flame.

Pushing the boundaries of what’s possible Working in partnership with BioRegional and WWF, they developed Towards a One Planet 2012 – a sustainable Games guided by the principle that the world should live within its means.

They recognise that with over four billion people watching and over 200 countries involved, the Games are an unrivalled catalyst for sustainable change. Planning and delivering that is a complex process and they have continued to learn and improve as they go.

“Let us take you behind the scenes to explore some of the ways we have planned, built and delivered with sustainability at the core – from the transformation of the Olympic Park and the building of world class venues, to the everyday decisions that are made by all of us at London 2012. Together we have strived to prove that there is a different way of hosting the Games, a way that provides the best experience for athletes and spectators alongside the best outcome for the community and the environment.

To bring our approach to life, we have focused on four areas that directly relate to anyone experiencing the Games for themselves or watching it on television.

Venues

All our venues are designed to ensure that all the athletes perform to the best of their ability whilst pushing the boundaries of sustainability knowledge and design. From the start we planned with legacy in mind. Where possible we have used existing venues – Wimbledon, Excel, Lords and Earls Court. Where there is a legacy need we have built new venues – the Olympic Stadium, the Aquatics Centre and the Velodrome and where there is no need, we have built temporary venues in iconic places such as Greenwich Park, Hyde Park and Horse Guards Parade. To learn more about the sustainability aspects of each venue, join us for a ‘Walk in the Olympic park’ during the Games or go to the Venues pages of our website.

Travel

With millions of people on the move at the same time and extra people travelling each day in and around London alone, it is imperative to get everyone to their venues on time. We have been working with Transport for London and many other partners to ensure that London’s public transport is ready. We have also used this opportunity to remind everyone that London is a great city for walking and cycling. Our Active Travel programme has been working behind the scenes to bring together the organisations that ensure that we all have access to walking and cycling routes across the capital and co-Host Cities during the Games.

Food

Most spectators at the London 2012 Games will want to have a bite to eat and a drink. In this section, we show you how we have worked with the food industry to bring you fantastic food that is ethically and sustainably sourced.

Waste

With so many people descending on London and the UK at the same time, we have thought long and hard about managing all that extra waste. We’re excited about the revolutionary new system we have created for the Games, which will make it easier for us to ensure that no waste is sent to landfill during Games-time.”

For more information visit the Olympics 2012 Sustainability page at http://www.london2012.com/about-us/sustainability/

Tourism 2020: Dialogue

You are invited to participate in the Tourism Dialogue which will craft solutions to put South Africa on the road to become one of the Top 20 Tourist Destinations by 2020.

Event: Tourism 2020: Dialogue – Responsible and Sustainable
Venue: Sandton Convention Centre
Time: 9h30 – 16h30 (Registration Starts at 9h00)
Date: 27 July 2012
RSVP: niki@go2natural.co.za by Monday 23 July 2012
Contact: Niki Glen 079 872 3160
Cost: Free of Charge [Read on...]

Event Greening Forum hits the road with series of training workshops

JOHANNESBURG. The Event Greening Forum (EGF) is offering event managers and meeting specialists greening workshops to help them manage the “instant impacts” their events have on the environment.

Events draw instant audiences and with them the associated water, waste and energy impacts. This makes managing these resources effectively, and mitigating the resulting carbon footprint, quite challenging.

From August to October the EGF will present one-day event greening workshops in Port Elizabeth, Pretoria/Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.

The aim of the workshops is to promote awareness around environmental issues and equip businesses in the events industry with the know-how and skills to address this by practicing event greening practices. Naturally, training opportunities are an important element of this.

“The events industry has a vital role to play in terms of safe-guarding South Africa’s resources, by using them responsibly and in a way that will enhance the industry for years to come. Its all about forward-thinking, and not exclusively focusing on the here and now,” says Justin Hawes, Chairman of the Event Greening Forum. [Read on...]

Green Conferencing Special Feature

Check out the MICE Tourism’s digimag, with a Green Conferencing special feature - especially page 32 ‘How to Green your Event’ and page 33 ‘Greenwashers Beware!’, featuring interviews with Justin Hawes (Chairman of the Event Greening Forum) and Greg McManus (CEO of Heritage Environmental Management Company) respectively.

A few words with Heath Nash

 

For over a decade, and definitely before being eco-savvy was cool, Heath Nash has been experimenting with what most of us call waste, and creating new items of beauty. We asked him a few questions about his line of work, as we believe the SA events industry has a lot to learn from individuals like him.

1.Do you define what you do as sustainable art, or do you call it something else?

I am very intrigued by upcycling and re-use as a rather underexplored area. Only since starting to work with these concepts, have I started to be really aware of ideas surrounding sustainability – and admittedly that’s been for quite a few years now. I don’t think I would call my work sustainable art – what does that mean really? – but rather perhaps work that asks questions about sustainability and our ideas about why we make things how we do.

My work is almost more about the ideas behind my practice than the objects we make – I mean, the amount of waste generated daily is so huge compared to what I use in my business that we don’t really impact the environment so much; BUT the work we make has more impact in changing minds and growing new ways of seeing waste than a big machine that crushes bottles…

2. We’re really interested in promoting re-use as the better option than recycling (where possible), so I think the work you are doing is really important. What advice would you give to our audience in terms of taking that step beyond recycling and instead seeking ways to re-use ‘waste’?

Don’t always go for the cheapest option.
Get some integrity.
Think beyond the obvious.
Change your aesthetic sensibility.
Take a stand (haha – that’s a funny pun).

In the events industry, I believe there’s a lot of innovation that can happen in this arena.

Events are possibly one of the most wasteful things ever – ALL this money spent for a few days of showing off, and very seldom is the aftermath of the event well enough managed to make the most of the materials and resources invested in the event beforehand.

Check out Heath’s blog, and see what creative concepts he has come up with for different events, all using “waste”: http://www.heathnash.com/wordpress/

 

 

 

 

 

Sustainability Week Expo

 

Sustainability Week Expo will be held at the Sandton Convention Centre from 25 – 29 July 2012, it will feature more than 100 eco product and technology exhibits, 8 conferences, and the Green Home and Lifestyle Fair over the weekend.

 

 

[Read on...]

Green Drinks

Green Drinks is happening this Thursday, 05 July 2012 at 18:00. No speaker has been scheduled, so the intention is to have some lively debate and to connect with some old and new green drinkers.

The venue will be Voodoo Lily Cafe,  64 St Andrew Street, corner of Wrenrose Avenue, Birdhaven, Johannesburg (opposite the Wanderers Planet Fitness Gym). This a fairly newly established cafe that serves locally sourced fresh organic and fair trade food, so possibly plan on having dinner there too! Check out www.voodoolilycafe.com for more details.

 

Green Drinks

Lorraine Jenks from Hotelstuff is the guest speaker at this month’s Green Drinks session.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Development threatens black eagles

A proposed housing development is being planned for the Ridge which runs through Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens.

This space is an ecologically sensitive Class 3 ridge area comprising indigenous grasslands and Protea caffra woodlands. It contains a number of Red Data species, is designated by GDARD as an “irreplaceable” site, and overlaps significantly with a Protected Area. It is also the hunting space to a number of black eagle.

Andrew Hankey, an Assistant Curator and Specialist Horticulturist at the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden, would like to challenge this development. He encourages everyone who also feels strongly about it to register as I&AP’s (interested and Affected Parties). This will bolster the collective resistance and awareness of what has been planned, and also requires the developers agents to inform  I&AP’s of all developments in the application and afford them the right to voice concerns and objections.

To register simply send an email to rpcolyn@telkomsa.net and request to be registered for the Proteadal application. There is no liability or obligation associated with being registered as an I&AP.

For more information, please contact Andrew on +27 086 100 1278 or A.Hankey@sanbi.org.za.

 

Event Greening