By Guard Fox Watch, October 2003
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Introduction
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The Bioregional Context
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The Bioregional Approach
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Recommendations for Bioregional Implementation of Olympic Games
Environmental Guides and Safeguards:
Territory and Landscape
Energy
Garbage
Water
Cable and Lift Facilities
Olympic and Media Villages
Roads and Transport
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SUMMARY
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Guard Fox Watch Monitoring Committee
Introduction
Guard Fox Watch (GFW) is an international NGO association of groups and
individuals concerned with the bioregional impacts and ecological implications
of the Winter Olympic Games. It currently has active member groups in Italy,
Japan and the United States, and communicates with a worldwide network of
ecologically oriented organizations. Since 1996, GFW has visited, monitored,
assessed, made recommendations about, and reported on the 1998 Nagano, 2002 Salt
Lake City Games and 2006 Turin. (Extensive reports and accounts can be found at Eco-Eye
on the Olympics)
The Bioregional Context
A bioregion is defined by the unique combination of natural characteristics
within a specific area such as climate, landforms, watersheds, soils, native
plants and animals, and aspects of human culture that adapt harmoniously to
those features.
An assessment of bioregional impacts caused by the Winter Olympic Games views
the general area where they occur to be a living whole. From a bioregional
perspective, humans share the place in partnership with native ecosystems and
other natural phenomena. It is a primary responsibility of human activity -
including the Winter Games - to harmonize with these natural characteristics.
The Bioregional Approach
There is an urgent need to restore and maintain living systems in bioregions
where the Games are held because they have been seriously damaged during the
contemporary era. The Winter Olympics should contribute to improving conditions
by exhibiting sustainability in every possible way and not add to further
destruction. In addition, the Games should help insure the future of bioregions
by leaving behind significant ecological methodologies and tools for achieving
local self-reliance and sustainability.
The scope of understanding environmental impacts should reflect bioregional
considerations along with factors of human activities, venue areas, and
necessities of event production. In order to be ecologically responsible in
presenting Winter Games, the list of environmental goals that a host adopts and
the technical means to reach them need to be based on the sustainability of
natural ecosystems as well as human inhabitation. The geographic area of concern
must extend beyond the confines of the venues themselves to encompass the entire
area that will be affected.
Recommendations for Bioregional Implementation of Olympic Games
Environmental Guides and Safeguards
Territory and Landscape
There is continuous direct damage to natural systems from development of
Olympics facilities and infrastructure, and there are increasing indirect
effects from human population loads.
Need for Bioregional Monitoring and Measurement
In recognition of anticipated damage from the Winter Olympics, natural and
urban landscapes must be evaluated ahead of time with an eye to restoring
distinctive elements of the territory. The nature and extent of the impacts can
be determined only through monitoring of basic ecological conditions, both in
the vicinity of the sports venues and throughout the entire region. Principal
conditions that require measurement include air quality, water availability and
pollution, garbage, sewage, native plant and animal populations, natural habitat
and ecosystems, energy production and use, soil removal and disruption, as well
as less pervasive environmental factors. It is essential that a genuinely
thorough, region-wide system for measuring these be in place no later than two
years before the event so that changes in conditions may be determined and
corrective actions undertaken as soon as possible beforehand and while the Games
are in progress. Regular monitoring of the same factors should also be
undertaken for at least two years after the Winter Olympics.
Guidelines for Development and Increased Human Loads
By two years before the event a unified set of enforced guidelines should be
in place for all aspects of development, construction, and ongoing operations
that impact natural conditions either directly or through increasing human loads
because of the Olympics. Buildings, service facilities, venues, road systems,
parking lots, and other public structures (either already in place, under
construction, or planned for use during the Games) need to be undertaken without
interference to waterways, ecosystems of native plant and animal species, wild
habitat, soils, or other natural elements.
The loads on public services infrastructures for water, energy,
transportation, solid wastes, sewage, and other necessities need to be monitored
for the same two year period. To eliminate additional burdens up to and during
the Games that would damage natural conditions modifications need to be made
before the event. These changes should be conceived in such a way that they
create maximum future benefits for the whole bioregional community.
Ecological Mandate for Restoration
Requalification of the natural landscape should be accomplished through a
bioregional approach. Restoration of damaged native plant and animal species,
ecosystems, habitats, waterways, soil, geological features, and landscapes needs
to be undertaken with the goal of ultimately fostering conditions of wildness.
Dammed or diverted water courses should be returned to a natural state, and
disturbed soils and land forms need to be rebuilt in their original forms
wherever possible. Only local native plants should be used for revegetation, and
it is imperative to develop a program to restore native animals.
Energy
Creating bioregional energy self-reliance is a foundational element of
sustainability. There are two main directions that need to be followed for
accomplishing this. The most obvious is to refit all possible forms of consuming
energy for conservation. This applies to factories and processing plants, office
and residence buildings, transportation vehicles, heating and cooling
facilities, appliances, and any other uses. Refitting extends through a wide
range of modifications from reconstructing structural features of buildings such
as installing heat absorbing walls, to adding devices for household appliances
that reduce the amount of electricity used.
The greatest change is to convert energy sources from non-renewable fossil
fuels and nuclear power to renewable sources including solar, falling water,
wind, biomass, and others that occur within the bioregion.
The occasion of the Winter Games should be the opportunity for carrying out
these changes in major ways. This can be done by initiating both energy
conservation and use of renewable forms of energy to the fullest extent possible
at the athletes’ facilities and sports venues, as well as in power facilities,
transportation, hotels, restaurants, and any other public aspects of staging the
Games. People who attend Olympic events should be informed about the alternative
energy techniques that are employed so that they can learn how to use them to
achieve sustainability when they return home. Improvements should be undertaken
with a view toward permanence so that facilities can continue to be used for
renewable energy conservation and production in the bioregion after the Games
have ended.
The 2000 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan brought more than five times the
normal number of people to the city. It is reasonable to assume an additional
population load of five hundred percent at the Winter Games sites, and that the
increase will out-strip gas supplies. To avoid such shortages new renewable
sources for energy uses currently met by gas should be developed.
Unquestionably, overall demand for electricity will also be elevated, and to
accommodate it some new heating plants and additional power lines are planned.
Unfortunately, these do not emphasize significant large-scale conservation
measures or decentralized means for renewable energy production. In
addition, some of the new power lines will be buried underground for cosmetic
environmental value. Trenching to install them and subsequent repair would
create ecological costs involved with disturbing habitat, ecosystems, plant and
animal populations, soil, and geological conditions for a planned distance of
eighteen kilometers. Regardless of these planned measures, there is a high
probability that demand for electricity will be even higher than expected with
the influx of people similar to Nagano, Japan. All of the problems cited above
can be significantly reduced or eliminated by development of new, decentralized
sources of renewable energy to produce electricity.
In order to contain energy consumption and to maximize the use of renewables
there should be a fully comprehensive plan for energy reduction/donation on a
decentralized basis for all aspects of energy supply and use. There should be
strong encouragement and support for as many ways of producing and conserving
energy as possible, both large-scale and small-scale. According to local natural
standards mini-hydro-electric systems of temporary small dams and sluices can be
created and solar panels and wind turbines could be installed in government
buildings, schools, factories, businesses, households, and other public places.
Individual refitting of homes, vehicles, and other types of private energy
consumption could be implemented through programs involving all citizens.
Ingenious techniques (such as Olympic athletes providing electric power while
using exercise equipment) can be explored and developed.
Garbage
There are two ways to deal with the garbage problem that are truly
sustainable: (a) eliminating the production of wastes, and (b) recycling of
discarded materials. Eliminating wastes can be accomplished in a surprising
number of ways. Industrial refuse originates mainly from aspects of production
which can be carried out in ways that don’t produce wastes. Ashes from burning
coal can be eliminated by using waste-free renewable energy. There should be
restrictions on the amount of packaging for materials that industries consume to
produce goods. Production processes can be streamlined to avoid creating
trimmings and other rubbish. Restaurants and hotels can follow similar policies
for the large volume of energy, food and cleaning materials they consume.
Household garbage contains a high percentage of packaging from food and consumer
goods that can be largely eliminated simply through reusing bags, containers,
and bottles, and by restricting goods which come in non-reusable containers such
as metal cans. Organic kitchen wastes can be eliminated as a component of
garbage by composting them at home to make useful garden soil.
Recycling is the most significant activity for reducing the amount of refuse
that otherwise ends up in dumps, landscapes, bodies of water, or toxic smoke. To
be sustainable, the goal should always be to eventually achieve Zero Waste
through One Hundred Percent Recycling. Every source of waste needs to be
completely reviewed. Power production and other utility facilities, factories,
construction projects, government buildings, office complexes, hospitals,
schools, small businesses, households, and all other sources need to be
included. All forms of wastes have to be evaluated for the most efficient types
of recycling or reuse. These activities should be coordinated from the
perspective of using recycled materials for various purposes throughout the
whole bioregion.
The types of materials handled through recycling consist mainly of paper,
metals, glass, plastic, wood, demolition rubble, chemicals, reusable parts, and
organic materials. They are all capable of producing income to pay for carrying
out recycling programs and other public purposes. Materials can generate money,
either sorted and sold directly, or after being processed into a surprisingly
large number of value-added products such as building materials, compost for
farming, recycled paper items, metalwork, park furniture, public sculpture,
jewelry, decorations, and more. Recycling reduces public and private
expenditures by making materials and products available more cheaply, and saves
the cost of energy by closing the distances between places where resources are
obtained and where they are consumed.
Olympic Games increase of waste production The increases in human numbers of
at least five times above normal that can reasonably be expected will certainly
overload existing facilities. Starting with construction sites, wastes steadily
mount in type and quantity until reaching a peak during the event that will
severely strain and overburden existing means for treating them. Unmatched
amounts of garbage will accumulate from every service facility associated with
accommodating the large numbers of attendees, including not only hotels,
restaurants, and event sites at full occupancy, but also grocery stores,
garages, bars, department stores, shops, hair salons, and other retail
businesses. Public waste collection for everything from businesses and
households to sidewalk trash receptacles and hospital discards will reach record
levels. Littering of landscapes will be at an all-time high. In addition, there
will be significantly greater amounts of waste from high-end consumer goods
bought by Olympics attendees that generally feature more packaging.
Water
The way in which water is viewed and dealt with is at the heart of the
bioregional approach to sustainability. It reveals the difference between using
methods aimed at restoring and maintaining water supplies to sustain life, and
the conventional Industrial Era practice of exhausting and polluting water
resources. Emphasis must be placed on watersheds when planning for sustainable
human and natural communities, and so, too, with the Games. Not only the
immediate vicinity but the entire impacted watershed should be taken into
consideration. The ways that human beings interact with local sources of water
and supplies extend far beyond just tapping it for collection so that it can be
piped away for various uses. All of the points of contact need to be considered
because they will be highly impacted by the Winter Games.
Winter snow is a primary source of water runoff. When snow covering on the
ground melts away in summer it carries into nearby bodies of water pollutants
which have accumulated. This pertains to all of the outdoor places where
activities take place. Exhaust and other fossil fuel contaminants on roadways
and parking lots, garbage on pedestrian grounds of sports venues, and discards
on sidewalks and landscapes all contribute pollution. All outdoor recreational
uses made of snow by Olympic athletes and vacationers will have pollutive
repercussions for water in underground reservoirs of springs and wells, as well
as ponds, lakes, creeks, and rivers. The number of dangerous potential
contaminants that people and vehicles can deposit on snow either intentionally
or by accident is extensive. In addition, direct pollution by effluents and
rubbish discarded into ponds, lakes, creeks, and rivers will increase from
heavier use through exposure to a greater population.
Reuse of water is a key factor in achieving sustainability. Water that has
been used once in a light way such as for washing bodies, clothes or dishes can
be used again for heavier uses including flushing toilets, hosing down
buildings, and watering parks and gardens. One quarter to one third of all water
consumption can be reduced in this way. The mechanism required to reuse water is
simple. Dual piping systems (one for pure water and one for used water), small
pumps, and water filters are all that is required.
It is important that the measures undertaken in preparing for the Winter
Olympics make a positive contribution. First, sources for water should be
greatly improved by increasing and diversifying the number of water catchment
systems on roofs of buildings and other places that can be replenished by rain
and melted snow. Water collection and storage devices can be readily bought or
constructed. Users of large amounts of water such as factories, hotels,
restaurants, and sports venues are especially important, but office buildings,
shops and homes can also be made more water self-reliant with rain and snow
catchment systems. Increasing the number of private wells will also help relieve
the burden on the present systems.
Second, there needs to be a thorough review and enforcement of water
conservation measures. These would extend over the widest possible range to
prevent water waste by industry, businesses, offices and private homes.
Participation of athletes’ facilities and sports venues is absolutely
necessary. Water conservation is highly effective in significantly reducing
consumption.
Third, converting plumbing systems to use water twice needs to become more
widespread to solve the looming problem of insufficient water supplies. Taking
this step in Olympics athletes’ facilities and sports venues is imperative.
Water reuse should also be featured in every sports venue, restaurant and hotel
that hosts attendees at the Games. A review of all the other places where water
reuse facilities can be installed should be made as well.
Carrying out the measures described above should be more than sufficient to
meet the challenge to water supplies brought by the Olympics, including making
artificial snow. No new dams or basins to store water need to be built.
Constructing more water containment facilities of the present type will cause
greater diversion of natural water courses and ecological disruption. It is
likely to increase the chances for future problems because it provides a false
justification for unsustainable development of buildings, houses, highways, and
roads: that there is enough capacity.
Pollution of water supplies will be reduced if source points for chemicals,
sewage, waste water, road runoff, and other types of dangerous materials are
identified and eliminated. This requires a thorough enforced program of
compliance with means to reduce water use and properly dispose of waste water.
Cable Lift Facilities
Construction and use of cable lift systems reduce foot and vehicle traffic up
and down steep slopes, but this partial benefit is achieved at the cost of
significant impacts on habitats, ecosystems, and animal populations where they
operate. The manner in which lift facilities are constructed and used is an
important example of how a bioregional perspective can maintain and restore
natural features.
There needs to be a thorough natural environment inventory in a wide area
around lift destination and stanchion sites before construction begins. This is
the only way to obtain an accurate guide for restoring the affected areas. Any
new construction of lift stanchions and destination points should be designed as
only temporary features which will be removed at the conclusion of the Games.
They must not interfere with the continuity of natural elements which include
landforms, watercourses, soil, ecosystems, and populations of native plants and
animals. To accomplish this, as little space as possible should be used for
construction, no landscaping should be employed, and ground covering such as
asphalt or cement avoided. Transportation to and from these sites should be
reserved for public transportation; other vehicles can be totally prohibited.
Use of parking facilities needs to be restricted to public transport vehicles.
Parking lots should be left unpaved with border ditches to direct snowmelt
runoff to monitoring and filtering devices. Pedestrian access can be
limited to narrow pathways. These measures should also be employed in the
redesign of already existing lift facilities.
During operation of lifts, noises that disturb wildlife should be reduced to
a minimum through extensive quieting of machinery and cushioning of contact
points between cables and conveyances. Passengers should be advised about the
need for quiet. Night operations need to be drastically reduced or eliminated
entirely. If this cannot be done, night use should be kept to the strictest
minimum. Exterior lights could be completely eliminated, and lights for interior
spaces such as cable cars or destination structures reduced to a minimum and
kept away from windows.
Lift facilities should be removed shortly after the conclusion of the Olympic
Games. All roads and paths need to be removed and complete revegetation of the
sites and surrounding areas should be undertaken using the original natural
environment inventory as a guide. Replanting should use only native species
found in the specific locale. Provisions also need to be made for attracting
wildlife back onto the entire hill or mountainside where a venue was located.
Monitoring the success of restoration efforts needs to continue over three-month
periods for several years.
Olympic and Media Villages
The Olympic Villages and Media Villages present an opportunity for
demonstrating ways that people can carry out some basic activities of daily life
in ways that are sustainable and harmonize with the bioregion. The practical and
instructional value that these heavily used and highly visible sites can offer
as model sustainable communities shouldn’t be wasted. Ecological measures that
are incorporated in Olympic and Media Villages should be left behind to help
create a more sustainable future.
Buildings should be constructed using locally available and recycled
materials. Their designs can include many built-in structural features to
conserve energy and collect rain or snowmelt water. The Villages can be planned
to demonstrate self-reliance by generating their own supplies of electrical and
heat energy from local alternative sources. Every application of energy can
exhibit ways to reduce consumption. Each site can have systems for recycling all
forms of waste that are produced. Food can be organically grown and supplied by
small-scale, local farmers. Dual water systems could make it possible to reuse
wash and shower water for other purposes such as cleaning buildings and
equipment or watering the grounds. Sewage needs to be biologically treated using
compost toilets and other means. Transportation to and from the Villages should
be restricted to electrically- powered public transportation vehicles, bicycling
and walking.*
The establishment of Olympic and Media Villages that foster sustainability in
these ways can become a permanent aspect of the Olympic Games. Their future use
by the communities where Games take place will be a testament to the primacy of
ecological values.
*(For further possibilities see
"The Bioregional Approach for Making Sustainable Cities".)
Roads and Transport
There are three ways that transportation can be modified and improved to
benefit bioregional sustainability. First, eliminate the need for new roads
and undertake ecological snow removal including decontamination of water runoff
from roads and parking areas. Second, restrict motor transportation to public
conveyances such as vans and buses, and only use vehicles that employ renewable
energy. Third, eliminate the need for motor-driven conveyances whenever
possible.
Existing roads should be sufficient to handle even a five- fold increase in
the number of people if the conveyances used are solely buses and vans with
scheduled arrival and departure times, and private vehicles are prohibited from
access to sports venues. (New roads should be discouraged because of the massive
upheavals they cause to natural systems and socio-economic stability.) The Games
will require a greater amount of highway snow removal and thereby increase
runoff that is already a source of water pollution in the local watershed and
throughout the bioregion. (In Nagano, Japan the amount of highway snow-clearing
chemicals used was five times higher than normal and caused still-lingering
damage to nearby rice fields.) Chemicals used to melt snow remain in dangerously
high concentrations when they flow through roadside channels to soils,
underground aquifers, small streams and surrounding fields, rivers, and
eventually the Adriatic Sea. Non-chemical, ecologically benign solutions for
removing snow and ice should be found and employed. This will not only reduce
ecological impacts of the Games but provide an important educational benefit for
outdoor events in the future. Roadside channels should be equipped with chemical
monitoring and filtration devices. In addition, road clearing should be
undertaken only when necessary, and not mandated to occur twenty-four hours a
day in every kind of weather as during the Nagano Olympics.
It will be possible to restrict Olympics transportation to only public
conveyances using renewable energy if arrangements for this transformation are
undertaken early. Decisions about the types of energy employed, the design and
number of vehicles, and production arrangements will require all of the advance
time possible. There are generous incentives that can be offered for doing this
including subsidization from local and federal governments, reducing costs
through local manufacture, elimination of fossil fuel and most maintenance
costs, and use by the community for a decade after the Games are over. It is a
completely desirable and feasible plan. Need for motor-powered conveyances of
any kind can be greatly reduced through planning sports events at venues closest
to Olympic and Media Villages. Weather and road conditions permitting, free
"white bikes" can be made available to use in getting from public
transportation points to sites and for other uses. Private bicycles can be
encouraged by creating more one-way streets, designating more bicycle lanes,
offering bicycle valet and secure parking services, and discounts at events for
bicycle riders and walkers. Three-wheel "truck" bikes can be used to
carry materials and products to event sites. Use of bicycles and walking need to
become a permanent highlight of the Games as they combine both environmental and
athletic aims.
SUMMARY
Guard Fox Watch (GFW) is an international NGO to monitor and make
recommendations about bioregional impacts of the Winter Olympic Games. Since
1996 it has developed reports, recommendations and accounts about the 1998
Nagano and 2002 Salt Lake City Games. GFW visited Turin, Italy in February 2003
for similar purposes regarding the 2006 Winter Games.
Environmental disruptions in mountainous and hilly Winter Olympic-type
terrain have a greater effect than in flatter areas (where Summer Olympic Games
are usually held) because life-supports are not as strong. Thin soils make
ecosystems less resilient, sloping land and fast water create floods and wash
away nutrients, and pollutants are often more concentrated where they are able
to accumulate.
Territory and Landscape
Immediate preparations for complete environmental monitoring of air quality,
water availability and pollution, garbage, sewage, native plant and animal
populations, natural habitat and ecosystems, energy production and use, soil
removal and disruption, and other relevant factors. Measurements of baseline
conditions during the same seasonal period of the Games need to be taken
starting no later than two years prior to the event in order to obtain effective
results. They should be taken regularly during this time period and for several
years after the Winter Games.
Establish guidelines for development and increased human loads. All aspects
of development, construction, and ongoing operations associated with the Games
need to be undertaken without interference to landforms, waterways, ecosystems,
habitats, soils, or other natural elements. Preparations need to be made to
measure levels of use for water, energy, garbage, sewage, transportation, food
supplies, and other necessities. Development guidelines and human load
measurements need to be in place two years ahead. Modifications to reduce and
eliminate impacts should be made continually through the year of the Games.
Ecological restoration after the Games should embody bioregional values.
Damage to native species, ecosystems, habitats, waterways, soil, and landscapes
should be restored to model conditions of wildness. Watercourses, soils and
landforms must be returned to their natural state, and only local native species
should be used in rebuilding ecosystems.
Energy
Develop energy self-reliance through conservation and creation of renewable
sources. Ordinary energy supplies are highly inadequate for probable five
hundred percent increase in human loads during Olympics, and extending existing
non-sustainable systems is environmentally destructive.
A comprehensive plan for energy reduction through conservation and donation
from already existing users.
Total renewable energy production and use at Olympics facilities and sports
venues at the time of the Games. Government conservation and renewable energy
development programs for all users should be started two years ahead to be fully
operational in time.
Garbage
Sustainable refuse programs to reduce and eliminate the production of garbage
and recycle all discarded materials. A Zero Waste Policy should be pursued at
all Olympic facilities and venues, and businesses such as restaurants, hotels,
and shops with increased human loads owing to the Games. Policies for these
aspects of Olympics activity should be in place two years before the Games.
Municipal plans need to follow a program for reduction and recycling throughout
the bioregion by the start of the Games.
Water
Watersheds should be the basic planning units for creating sustainability
within human and natural communities affected by the Olympics.
Water catchment systems to collect rain and snowmelt should be immediately
installed at places such as Village facilities, sports venues, hotels, and
restaurants that will experience heavy water use because of the Olympics. Where
possible, all water users ranging from factories to homes, can be included.
Water conservation needs to be thorough and enforced. This is especially
urgent for Olympic Villages and sports venues, but all water users need to be
included through civic programs.
Reuse of water through dual plumbing systems, one for pure water and one for
lightly used water, should be installed in Olympic Villages and sports venues.
Hotels and restaurants should also be required to have reuse systems, and all
water users can be scheduled for programs to transform their plumbing systems by
the start of the event.
No new dams or basins to store water need to be built if the above measures
are carried out.
Cable Lift Facilities
Complete natural environment inventories in a wide area around destination
and stanchion construction sites are necessary in order to properly restore
landforms, watercourses, soil, ecosystems, and native plant and animal
populations.
Minimum space, no landscaping, and no paving should be followed in
constructing lift facilities.
Noise and night lighting completely eliminated or kept to strictest minimum.
Transportation to lifts restricted to public conveyances and pedestrians.
Lift facilities removed after Olympics.
Plant and animal restoration using only local native species.
Monitoring of success for three-month periods over several years.
Olympic and Media Villages
Require model sustainable community guidelines for constructing and operating
Villages. Recycled and locally available materials use in construction.
Structural elements featuring built-in water catchment and heating/cooling
capabilities. Self-reliant heat and electricity generating facilities and
conservation devices. Full-scale recycling. Water re-use. Locally produced
organic food. Biological sewage treatment. Transportation restricted to
renewable energy powered public transportation, bicycles, and walking.
Public information about all aspects of sustainability to take advantage of
this unique educational opportunity. Leave complete facilities for future
community demonstration and use.
Roads and Transport
Restrict Olympic-related transportation during Games to public conveyances
using renewable energy, bicycles and walking.
Ecological snow removal and handling of road water runoff during the Games.
Use only environmentally benign snow removal devices and chemicals. Remove snow
only when necessary and don’t mandate twenty- four hour removal in all types
of weather. Channel road and parking area water runoff through monitoring and
decontamination filters.
Eliminate the need for new roads through automobile-free planning. Place
locations of facilities and events close together. Convert streets to one-way
traffic with bicycle lanes. Weather and road conditions permitting, offer
bicycle security services and give bicycle riders and walkers discounts at
events. Make free "white bikes" available and encourage use of
three-wheel "truck bikes" for carrying loads and passengers.
Prepared by Guard Fox Watch Monitoring Committee
Peter Berg
Director, Planet Drum Foundation (USA)
Field researcher, coordinator and principal author
David Criley (USA)
Information researcher and contributor
Judy Goldhaft
Planet Drum Foundation (USA)
Field researcher and consultant
Mark Hebard
Planet Drum Foundation (USA)
Consultant and contributor
Giuseppe Moretti
Founder, Rete Bioregionale Italiana (Italy)
Field researcher, translator and contributor
Kimiharu To
Founder, Deep Ecology Resource Center (Japan)
Field researcher, reviewer and contributor
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