ParalympicsGB are teaming up with London 2012's first Sustainability partner, EDF Energy, to mark two years to go until the start of the 2012 Paralympic Games by making their training camp as green as possible.
EDF Energy is working with its charity partner ParalympicsGB to reduce the environmental impact of the team's training camp at the University of Bath, which takes place from Wednesday 25th August to Sunday 29th August, by helping the athletes and coaches save energy and money. They hope to lead by example and use London 2012 to inspire others to think and act green in the build up to the Games. The partnership between EDF Energy and ParalympicsGB was launched in March by multi-gold medal winning Paralympian, Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, with the goal of turning ParalympicsGB into a truly 'Green Team' ahead of 2012.
The centre piece of sustainability at the camp, where Paralympians and Paralympic hopefuls from 14 sports will come together to train, will be the EDF Energy EcoManager devices. These will be offered to all participating athletes and coaches. The EcoManager is a new wireless appliances controller, which helps users to take more control of their electricity consumption. By not only giving users a better understanding of the relative costs of running individual monitored appliances but also the benefit of being able to switch them off remotely, the device enables users to achieve both environmental and cost saving benefits. EcoManagers will be installed throughout the camp itself and by incorporating the EcoManager into their daily routine, athletes will be able to take more control of their energy consumption, wherever their training takes them.
EDF Energy, Britain's largest producer of low carbon electricity, is working with sustainability expert, Toby Radcliffe, to use the camp as a pilot for a new accreditation scheme that may be used to assess the sustainability credentials of other residential training events across a variety of sports in the future.
Collaborating with the Council for Responsible Sport, it is hoped the pilot will pioneer a unique sustainability blueprint for multi-day sporting events, considering factors such as waste, water consumption and transport, to create a legacy of more sustainable events beyond London 2012.
Toby Radcliffe, sustainability consultant to EDF Energy and an ironman triathlete, comments: "We've been working across many areas to make the ParalympicsGB training camp in Bath a gold medal winner when it comes to sustainability. The centre piece is our new energy device, the EcoManager, that will be used throughout the camp and be available for all athletes to take away and use in their daily lives wherever their training takes them."
EDF Energy's commitment to the Games also includes volunteers working at the camp, adding their support to EDF Energy's 1200 volunteers who have given in total thousands of hours of their time to support 2012 inspired community initiatives over the past two years.
Athletes will also be provided with daily energy saving tips and invited to attend EDF Energy's educational Low Carbon Arcade. The arcade features touch screens with interactive games and quizzes which visitors can use to learn about sustainability. At the camp there will be stationary bikes, both pedal and hand powered, which athletes can use to power a lighting column, making a link between physical energy and electricity.
Gareth Wynn, EDF Group Director, 2012 Programme, added: "Sustainability is at the heart of EDF Energy and we believe that the Bath training camp is a great opportunity to put some really tangible measures into action that will show how ParalympicsGB is leading the world, not just in sport, but in the race against climate change."
"As the first sustainability partner of London 2012 we want to create a positive legacy for the Games by using them as a platform to inspire lasting change. We relish the opportunity to use our expertise to help the team to perform smarter when it comes to energy efficiency. The aim is to get athletes, coaches and the wider public thinking more carefully about how they use energy and become champions of sustainability in their own communities."
Phil Lane, ParalympicsGB CEO, said: "London 2012 is about creating a legacy and working together with EDF Energy, our athletes are leading the way to inspire others to reduce their everyday carbon footprint up to and beyond 2012. The Bath training Camp marks two years to go until the Paralympic Games in London and our elite athletes are now starting their countdown to the Games, putting maximum efficiency and enhanced performance at the forefront of their preparations. High performance is also about smart performance and thinking about smart use of their energy is another facet of this.''
Professor Glynis Breakwell, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bath, said: "It's fantastic that the University is playing host to such a large group of diverse and inspirational athletes and that sustainability lies at the heart of their preparations. The University of Bath is a leader in finding scientific and technical solutions for energy sustainability and we were the first University in the country to win the gold standard from the Green Tourism Business Scheme. We hope that the Camp and the work EDF Energy are doing will inspire others of the University to consider their own energy consumption."
EDF Energy is also the founder of Team Green Britain, an ever growing movement of hundreds of thousands of people aiming to reduce their carbon footprint ahead of 2012. Working together with partners including London 2012 and supported by Olympians and thousands of schools, Team Green Britain is inspiring and enabling people across the country to think and act green.
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