Mindful of the environment, Tokyo 2020 organisers came up with ways to reduce carbon emissions that are inevitably produced by the Games. Athletes taking part in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games can look forward to resting on sustainable cardboard beds and mattresses.
Specifically made for the athletes, the bed frames are made from recyclable cardboard and the mattresses are made of polyethylene materials that will be reused for plastic products after the games.
There are 18,000 beds in Tokyo Bay for the Games and 8,000 beds for the Paralympics. The unique beds would fit even the tallest athlete at 2.1 metres long and bear the weight of about 200 kilograms, which is more than any athlete’s weight recorded in the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
Tokyo 2020 takes further plans to promote sustainability in this year’s Games by producing the Olympic torch using aluminum waste, podiums made from recycled household and marine plastic waste and generating electricity from renewable sources. Interestingly, all medals will be made from metals extracted from recycled consumer electronics–around 6.2 million used mobile phones.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics is happening from 24 July to 9 August 2020 while the Paralympics will take place from 25 August to 6 September.
Text by Jessy Wong
