SUSTAINABLE OLYMPIC LONDON by Jose Ramon Comesaña

l a n o i e t a m n r m e a t r n g I o 2 r 1 P 0 n 2 o i n t o a d c n Lo Edu A sustainable London 2012 Games Making the Games better for everyone In 2012, the Olympic and Paralympic Games are coming to London and the UK. The excitement is growing and soon the whole world will be watching.

Sustainability: An issue for the whole world What is sustainability?

It is about living our lives in a way that helps care for the planet. It is about looking after the environment so that we help make the world a better place for our children. Our environment gives us the air, food, water and fuel we need to live. If we want our environment to keep going for us, we must take care of it.

Why is sustainability important?

We want the London 2012 Games to show that we care for the world we live in. If we are not careful we can: – affect climate change – damage habitats – cause noise and air pollution – spoil the environment The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) will make sure all Olympic and Paralympic Games are as sustainable as possible. London 2012 wants to be the most sustainable Games ever. Looking after the planet was very important in the London 2012 bid. Our motto was ‘Towards a One Planet Olympics’. The London 2012 Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) worked with five ideas in mind: – Climate change – Waste – Biodiversity – Inclusion – Healthy living The Olympic Delivery Authority had to plan and build the Olympic Park and its venues. LOCOG is in charge of organising the Games. This is a big challenge!

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Sustainability of the past Do you think we look after the planet today? What about in the past? How have things changed to make us more aware of how careful we need to be with our planet? Is your country doing anything different now to protect the planet?

Glossary SUSTAINABILITY – care of the environment for the future ENVIRONMENT – the natural world around us HABITAT – a place in which a plant or animal lives POLLUTION – harming the natural world around us LONDON ORGANISING COMMITTEE OF THE OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES (LOCOG) – the organisation responsible for preparing and staging the Games MOTTO – a short saying. Companies and organisations use mottos to promote what they do. BID – proposal to the IOC by a member country to host an Olympic Games INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (IOC) – organisation that is responsible for all Olympic Games

Climate change London 2012 can see that the world is increasingly affected by climate change. To make the Games as ‘green’ – environmentally friendly – as possible, London 2012 has made some of the buildings a bit differently.

The Velodrome

This was the first venue on the Olympic Park to be finished and the Velodrome uses the least energy. It is hoped it will be the fastest cycling track in the world. The track and the building have been built without harming the planet.

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Using the facilities after the Games When the Games end, the Velodrome and BMX Track will be made into a VeloPark for everyone to use. Can you think of any more uses for the Olympic and Paralympic venues after the Games?

The design makes the most of natural light and uses natural ventilation for keeping the track cool. Rainwater will be collected from the roof and used to flush the toilets.

The Energy Centre

The new Olympic Park Energy Centre will provide hot water, electricity, heating and cooling systems for buildings in the Park and the Athletes’ Village. In the future it will provide energy to families that live there. Did you know...? – One of LOCOG’s aims is to make sure everyone uses public transport at the 2012 Games or travels by bicycle or on foot – London 2012 has cut its carbon emissions by 50 per cent

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Vision of the future What do you think the Olympic and Paralympic Games will be like in one hundred years’ time or more? Do you think people be looking after the environment better than we do now? Imagine that the Games are coming to your country. What would you need to do to make sure the Games were kind to the planet?

Glossary OLYMPIC PARK – the main area where the Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre, Handball Arena, Basketball Arena, Velodrome and the Athletes’ Village have been built AIM – what a person or organisation wants to achieve LONDON ORGANISING COMMITTEE OF THE OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES (LOCOG) – the organisation responsible for preparing and staging the Games VENUE – a building or location where an event (the sporting competition) will take place SUSTAINABILITY – care of the environment for the future PUBLIC TRANSPORT – vehicles, which includes trains and buses, that everyone is able to use to travel between areas EMISSION – something that is sent out into the air

Waste London 2012 is aiming for a ‘no waste’ policy. We want to encourage everyone to reduce waste in the future. London 2012 has built the new venues with recycled materials as much as possible. We even re-used the soil that was dug up on site, after we had cleaned it. Some buildings in the Olympic Park had to be removed to make room for everything else. Businesses were moved into new buildings nearby. The old buildings were crushed and made into roads and bridges. Did you know...? – – – – –

80 lamp posts were saved and will be used in the Olympic Park when it is finished About 2,000 tonnes of waste has been removed from the Olympic Park by boat More than 80 per cent of the soil in the Olympic Park has been cleaned and reused A total of 98.5 per cent of building waste has been recycled and in some cases reused The concrete used for the Aquatics Centre, Handball Arena and the Olympic Stadium was made with 30 per cent recycled materials

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News report

Find out more information about the Games and looking after the planet at the London 2012 website. Write pretend news stories to share with your friends. Draw or paint large pictures and put them up in your classroom or school hall. You could even make models of the buildings to illustrate your story.

Glossary WASTE – items or objects that people may not want any longer RECYCLE – to use something again SUSTAINABILITY – care of the environment for the future POLICY – a written document which tells people the way that they should behave or act OLYMPIC PARK – the main area where the Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre, Handball Arena, Basketball Arena, Velodrome and the Athletes’ Village have been built

Biodiversity London 2012 wants to protect the lives of plants, animals and insects in the area and bring people closer to nature through sport and culture. The Olympic Park stretches over lots of natural habitats, and London 2012 is doing its best to keep them safe. London 2012 has created new homes for any plants and animals that may have been affected by the building of the Olympic Park. These are some of the animals that are being encouraged to create new homes on the Olympic Park: – – – – – –

kingfishers song thrushes eels water voles bats grass snakes

These are some of the plants that were moved: – – – – –

marsh woundwort field scabious yellow toadflax scentless mayweed tower mustard

Did you know...? – The Olympic Park is about 250 hectares big. It is the size of 357 football pitches – At least 45 hectares of new homes for animals and plants is being created – There are 675 bird and bat boxes on the Olympic Park – 2,000 newts and hundreds of toads have been given new homes – 2,000 local people have helped make these changes

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A Games for all!

If you were going to build a new sports centre where you live what animals and plants would be affected? How could you protect them?

Glossary HABITAT – a place in which a plant or animal lives SUSTAINABILITY – care of the environment for the future OLYMPIC PARK – the main area where the Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre, Handball Arena, Basketball Arena, Velodrome and the Athletes’ Village have been built

Healthy living London 2012 hopes to inspire everyone to take up sport and be more active and healthy. The athletes who are competing at London 2012 have all trained really hard. When they are in the UK, they will want to do their very best. London 2012 can help them by making sure there is lots of healthy food for them to eat while they are here.

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A healthy meal for athletes What are your favourite meals? Would you feel proud offering traditional food to the athletes? If so, which meals would you serve? Why not invent a new dish for an athlete?

London 2012 has a ‘Food Vision’ for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. We will have to provide about 14 million healthy meals. We have thought about where all of our food has come from so that we do not harm the planet. For example, London 2012 will only use fish that is in good supply and meat from animals that have been well looked after. Look how much will be eaten at the London 2012 Games! • 25,000 loaves of bread • 100 tonnes of meat • 75,000 litres of milk • 19 tonnes of eggs • 21 tonnes of cheese • 330 tonnes of vegetables Exercise is an important part of an athlete’s life and we know that doing exercise every day is a really good idea! How much exercise do you do? London 2012 is encouraging lots of people to cycle and walk to the Games when they come to watch.

Glossary SUSTAINABILITY – care of the environment for the future HEALTHY – being well in mind and body VISION – idea for the future EXERCISE – activities that you have to do with the body VISITOR – a person who goes to a specific place or event

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Active travel

How do you travel to school? If you go to school by car could you go by bus? Can you walk or cycle to school? Why not join up with your friends and go together? If it is too far then can you find some time at the weekends to walk or cycle?

We are very excited about the London 2012 Games. We are also excited about everyone’s efforts to make it the most sustainable Games ever. Learn as much as you can about caring for our planet and tell everyone you know! You could organise special events at school and where you live to inform people about how much London 2012 cares for the planet. You could even put an article in your local newspaper. Be inspired by the Games and see what you can do to help our planet. Why not get others to do the same?

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Get creative for 2012 sustainability Are you good at poetry or song writing? Are you a good storyteller? Whatever your talent, use it to produce something wonderful to help the London 2012 Games save our planet! You could encourage your school to use wind, solar or wave power. You could even start a school newsletter, and get more people to cycle or walk to school. Why not start a vegetable garden at your school? This will mean the food is already there and won’t need to be brought by a van.

Glossary SUSTAINABILITY – care of the environment for the future

Start a sustainability campaign!

CAMPAIGN – a set of actions to give information on a topic to other people

Do this as a class or as an entire school. Think of new ways to make your school more sustainable. Could you use less electricity? Could you produce less waste? Can you recycle more?

WASTE – items or objects that people may not want any longer RECYCLE – to use something again INSPIRE – to create a good feeling in someone to do something

Share with your school and community!