Reaching for gold
Image: Smartwater
I, as I’m sure many, have enjoyed watching the 2024 Olympic Games heats and finals over the past couple of weeks.
The medals haven’t been the only things to shine, though. Glacéau Smartwater, the brand owned by The Coca-Cola Company, made its debut at the Games by providing every athlete with a gold aluminium bottle to help them stay hydrated and eco-conscious.
Before the Games, many had lobbied for more sustainable packaging options at the Games. A letter led by organisations, Sailors for the Sea Powered by Oceana and EcoAthletes, expressed concern for the ever-growing plastic pollution crisis and urged soft drink companies to use Paris 2024 as a launchpad for introducing more reuse options at future Olympic Games and other sporting events. The 113 signatories to this letter included 102 athletes and 11 organisations, representing 43 sports and 30 countries. More than 50 Olympians, Paralympians, world champions and world record holders signed the letter, including 22 athletes who competed at the Paris 2024 Games.*
Trivium Packaging has expressed the positive effect of seeing the 18oz gold bottles in use, stating in a LinkedIn post: “The endorsement of world-class athletes on a global stage will go a long way to raise awareness and make reducing single-use plastics a reality.”
Consumers wanting to purchase one of the bottles themselves will have to be based in the US – they are currently available on Walmart.com for a price of $4.98.
Not every packaging choice has been a success for the Games, though. Before the events even began, an Olympic-branded water bottle designed for children by the Vilac Company was recalled due to unsafe levels of BPA – which would be legal in the US, however France banned BPA products altogether in 2015.
Additionally, the cardboard beds made for the athletes’ village in Paris – also part of the Games’ sustainability efforts – have been a controversial topic, with some expressing how uncomfortable they are while others disagree.
Nevertheless, it’s undeniable that many efforts have been viewed in a positive light. Around 95 per cent of the 35 competition venues used for the Games were either pre-existing or temporarily created in a way to reduce their impact on biodiversity. One of the just two new venues was the aquatics centre, which was built using low-carbon construction methods and is largely energy self-sufficient as a result of the 4,680m² of solar panels on its roof. The venue also boasts seats made from recycled plastic waste.
With the Paralympics set to start in a couple of weeks (28 August), we will await further reports on how much of a success all the sustainability measures have been in Paris, compared to earlier editions of the Games.
- Alex Rivers (she/her), CanTech International editor
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