Vancouver wears its green ethic on its sleeve. After all, this is the birthplace of Greenpeace and the home of environmental leaders such as activist David Suzuki and University of British Columbia professor William Rees (who coined the term "ecological footprint”). And, in 2010, Vancouver will be the site of one of the greenest Games in Olympic and Paralympic history.

“We believe [the Games] can demonstrate how sport and sustainable practices can advance well-being — environmentally, socially and economically,” writes John Furlong, CEO of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games.

Already, visitors to Vancouver encounter innumerable environmental initiatives tied to the 2010 Winter Games such as the rainwater collection systems that provide water for washrooms at the Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre and Richmond Olympic Oval, and the green “living” roof that covers the expansion of the Vancouver Convention Centre, home to the International Broadcast Centre for the 2010 Winter Games.

Local hotels have taken many strides on the environmental front, from comprehensive recycling and reuse programs and kitchen-waste composting to various water, energy reduction and air quality programs. Here are a handful of note-worthy initiatives:

• The Listel Hotel is the first hotel in Vancouver to install a cutting-edge renewable energy system that uses solar panels and a highly efficient heat recovery system to reduce the hotel’s carbon footprint.

 

• The Shangri-la Hotel boasts “smart rooms” that sense when sunlight is causing room temperatures to rise too high and automatically closes guest room blinds, thus reducing the need for air conditioning.

 

• The Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle encourages guests to go paperless with an electronic folio for billing. The hotel estimates that if all guests switch to an e-folio, the hotel would reduce its paper consumption by almost 500 sheets per day.

 

• Fairmont Hotels & Resorts have long been seen as leaders in environmental stewardship. The Fairmont Vancouver Airport partners with local organic farmers to harvest BC's finest seasonal and sustainable produce for use in the hotel kitchen. The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver collects used kitchen oil for conversion into a low-emission alternative fuel. Guests of The Fairmont Waterfront can enjoy house-grown honey while the downtown core benefits from an increased bee population thanks to two rooftop beehives and a rooftop herb garden that houses 120,000 bees.