Can the Olympics really be the “greenest games ever”?

The recent closing date for Olympic tickets has further increased the volume of coverage the games are receiving. Much of the interest is generated of course from within the organisers of the games, and their green message has been noticeable by its absence. From the outset the Olympic committee outlined its commitment to being the greenest games ever. They may well be working to internal guidelines on green purchasing and construction but the public are certainly not being made aware of it. From our perspective as a supplier of green promotional gifts the emphasis appears to be clearly aligned towards the corporate partners rather than achieving any green objectives. Recently at a regional BPMA event in Bristol Gordon made a presentation on the do’s and don’ts of the working with the Olympic logos, associated terms, design styles etc that may infringe on the Olympic trademarks and copyrights. The focus of all the supporting documents provided by the organisers was purely designed to protect the interests of the commercial partners and sponsors; and thereby maximising the revenue going towards the cost of hosting the games. That is fair to a point as the partners have forked out huge sums to be associated with the games but does that leave a conflict of interest. I believe it does, we have certainly been told by LOCOG that they can lend us no assistance when getting products approved as we are not a licensee. As a result multiple sponsors buying from our distributors have to go through the entire approval process each time even if the same item is being provided. Distributors and sponsors are being told that where possible and available all promotional merchandise must be purchased from the official licensees. There is no mention in these guidelines of whether the licensees items are more environmental or ethical than other options available. It seems to me that if you are a supplier with very deep pockets and pay to be a licensee your items will be prioritised over the mantra of being the greenest games, clearly a conflict of interest.  I am squarely behind the games and look forward to getting at least some of the tickets I’ve applied for but I also hope they improve the approval processes for promotional merchandise in the months ahead and I hope they stick to their claims and can achieve a genuinely green Olympic and Paralympics games.