Eco-friendly Olympics

Olympics organizers are working toward the goal of hosting a carbon-neutral 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada, in February and March.

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games is working with Offsetters, Canada’s leading carbon-management provider, to organize the Carbon Partner Program, in which sponsors and partners are given the opportunity to measure and reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions, according to a press release.

So far, more than 30 companies have become “carbon partners” for the games, most notably a slew of Canadian companies, McDonald’s and VISA.

With the program, organizers hope to offset as much as 268,000 tons of carbon emissions, which includes 118,000 tons of direct emissions from the games and an additional 150,000 tons of predicted indirect carbon emissions created by spectators, guests and sponsors. If successful, the games will have offset enough carbon emissions to equal taking nearly 50,000 passenger cars off the road.