All things sustainable at this years Olympic Games

As you all know the Olympic Games are soon going to come to a close. It's been a year full of surprises and happiness for many athletes and viewers. Although in our eyes, 2020 Olympic Games will go down in history as the beginning of a more sustainable approach to this worldwide event.

“We will take the initiative to meet its responsibility to deliver sustainable Games and showcase solution models of global sustainability challenges to people in Japan and around the world,” reads a statement on the sustainability page of the official Tokyo 2020 website.

This year's Olympic Games have also set five themes centring around sustainability: Climate change, Resource Management, Natural Environment and Biodiversity, Human Rights, Labour and Fair Business Practices, Involvement, Cooperation and Communications. But what changes have they actually made? 

Using recycled materials

Many of this year's podiums have been 3D-printed using recycled, donated plastic designed by Asao Tokoro. 5,000 medals have been made from recycled electronic devices donated by people across Japan this year. This is the first year in history Olympic medals have been made from recycled materials.

Athletes at this year's Olympics have been sleeping on beds made from recycled cardboard. Each of these beds has a customisable mattress by the Japanese company Airweave. The bed frames are made from recycled cardboard, while the modular mattresses are made from polyethene fibres that the brand says can be recycled an unlimited number of times. About 8,000 of these beds will be reused by Paralympic athletes also. These beds are set to be donated to national organisations after both games.

Although the Olympics still have a far way to go sustainably, I think all of us can appreciate their effort towards making this event more green!