I was in my car listening to the radio when I heard the DJ talking about the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. He wasn't happy with the fact that the medals would be made from reclaimed metal from recycled computer circuit boards and other computer parts. He thought that doing this was taking going green too far. I disagree completely. He argued that we should be able to sacrifice going green to have pure medals, but Olympic medals aren't pure anyway. By International Olympic Committee (IOC) standards, gold and silver medals have to be made of 92.5% silver with gold medals having 6 grams of gold covering. Bronze medals are a mixture of copper and zinc. The 2010 medals will still be mostly composed of the metal that they're supposed to be because their components are found in the computer waste that they’ll be made out of. Putting composition of the medals aside, winning an Olympic medal isn't about what the medal is made of, it's about the hard work, time, and effort that the athletes put into their respective competitions. Using recycled metal for the Olympic medals is a great way to keep the electronic wastes out of landfills and turn it into something useful. Hopefully, taking the step forward to using recycled metals will get the message out to people all over the world that it’s “cool” to recycle.
Green Tip Zahl Fünf (Number Five): I guess I’ll continue on the recycling spiel. Recycling is an easy way to do your part to help out the environment. Throw your bottles, cardboard, newspapers, and paper in your recycling bins so they don’t sit in a landfill. You can also buy a lot of products from recycled materials as well. I’ve used organic makeup in a recycled container and it worked wonderfully. I’ve also got a pair of scissors made from partly recycled materials. Oh, and those plastic bags you’ve got stocked up from Wal-Mart and Target (but not much longer because you bought a reusable bag, right?), most large stores have places to recycle those too. So do your part, reduce, reuse, recycle.
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It is fascinating to hear about the different ways in which people or organizations are doing to recycle. I would have never thought of using recycled computer circuit boards to create a medal for the Olympics. You brought up an interesting question. What is considered too green? Can someone go too far in being green? I do not think that there is a limit. If someone recycles or finds a creative way to recycle then this is a positive thing. But many people are not recycling. The problem is that people do not know the kinds of things to recycle.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I don't think that there's a limit on going green. It's such a crucial aspect to today's everyday life. You're right, a lot of people don't recycle. At the beginning of this month a law went into effect that made it illegal to throw away plastic bottles and containers in North Carolina. It looks like people will have to start recycling now!
ReplyDeleteWhile I am all for going green, I can see why some may not agree with the Olympics' decision. As a big fan of Winter and Summer games, changing what the medals are made of does mess with the history and pageantry of the Olympics. And yet you're right; the medals aren't about what they're made of but they represent the talent and hard work put towards the accomplishment.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you stated that the bronze medals are made of copper and zinc to prove that Olympic medals aren't "pure." Bronze is an alloy made of usually copper and some other metal, like tin, zinc, or aluminum. So, the Bronze medals are pure and it seems that silver is too, or nearly so.
Bud's Wiser: I can understand why people would think that changing the medals changes Olympic tradition, but they'll still be made mostly of the main components, just in a more green way. Also, I wasn't trying to say that the bronze metals aren't pure, I was just saying what they were made out of for reference to those who don't know.
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