Event organizers take great strides in thinking outside the box about going ‘green’, they get a ton of press releases about how they’ve ‘greened’ the event, and people who attend have a warm, fuzzy feeling that they’re being ecological. However, it’s not long before people are choosing comfort over reading by placing plastic in the nearest bin instead of the designated one. While some people go out of their way to recycle, be sustainable, and buy only organic, the majority of society is still interested in instant gratification, convenience, and having a comfortable lifestyle.
South African cities had lots of good ideas on how to green the World Cup, but can society implement the concepts and really stick to the plan? Going ‘green’ may be in, but another current trend going on right now is displaying country flags on cars and making vows.
Flags stuck to cars show our pride in our countries, but there’s a reason Cape Town is known as the Cape of Storms. Some have already found their way into roadside ditches and trees. The question is also, even if the flags will stick around through the winter, will they continue to be used after the hype ends, or will our cities’ garbage cans and waste piles be decorated with cocktail flags? Then there are the voles; Regardless of the obvious flaws, with the noise pollution and the amount of plastic that has been used to create them, where will these plastic creations of chaos be dumped after the game?
Even before the World Cup started, there were (and still are) issues about what we are going to do with the stadiums after the event. While stadiums are built with sustainability in mind, the idea of never using them again is not tenable, considering that the definition of sustainable is “capable of continuing with minimal long-term effect on the environment.” .
There are two large ‘green’ projects that the event has focused on. These projects, along with others, were funded by the Global Environment Fund, which donated US$1 million. The first was to green all the lighting in and around the stadiums with solar panels. 12 billboards, along with 60 traffic lights and 78 streetlights will be switched to solar power.
The second is the Green Passport, an initiative to encourage visitors to make ‘green’ choices while in the country. The Green Passport is a 32-page booklet that will be distributed to 100,000 World Cup spectators. Figure it out: that’s 320,0000 pages of paper that are distributed to spectators who are there to watch a game. Think about what you do when you receive a brochure while waiting at a stoplight or a schedule of events at a conference.
It is to be hoped that the co-organizers of the event will place the “paper” container in a convenient place, otherwise neighbors of the lost flags could be found.
