Of the five interlocking rings that make up the Olympic symbol, the one that will surely shine most brightly during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games is the green ring. Vancouver – its citizens, businesses, and the Olympic Organizing committee – share an unwavering commitment to making the 2010 Winter Games the most environmentally friendly ever. Consider how these Vancouver tourism operators are embracing green transportation practices.

• Many of Vancouver’s taxis are hybrid, meaning they run on electricity and gasoline. The man who started the revolution is Andrew Grant, a Yellow Cab taxi driver, who in 2000 began driving the world's first hybrid taxicab, a Honda Prius. Yellow Cab now operates 100 other hybrid vehicles, which translates to about 40 per cent of its fleet. Maclure’s Cabs, the oldest cab company in the Metro Vancouver runs hybrid taxis as well.

 

• Alternate fuels provide the horsepower for some innovative Vancouver tour companies. Vegetable oil collected from local restaurants runs the Toyota Land Cruiser that AAA Vancouver Eco Tours use for their daily sightseeing excursions to the North Vancouver. Hydrogen powers the Landsea Tours buses that emit nothing but steam. And it is two horses, hay, oats and water that fuel the carriages that are Stanley Park Horse Drawn Tours. If you’re wondering about “emissions” from this old-school way of touring, manure is captured in bags that sit just under the horse’s tails.

 

• Visitors can get a birds-eye view of Vancouver’s beauty while offsetting the environmental cost of their flight by flying with carbon-neutral operators Helijet and Harbour Air. Westcoast Air participates in a program called Climate Smart that shows the airline where their emissions come from and allows them to make immediate changes (such as flying at a higher altitude and slightly slower speed) to reduce their carbon footprint.

 

• Holland America and Princess Cruises turn off their ships' diesel-powered engines when docked in Vancouver and use hydroelectric power from the city's grid to run all onboard services. Many other cruise ports around the world are not equipped with the power supply needed by cruise ships to plug-in when in port.