Oh boy, the Olympics. Russia has spent close to $50 billion preparing for the games, and part of that large sum of money went toward energy infrastructure projects. 49 of these facilities have been constructed since Russia won the Olympic host bid in 2007 in order to supply sufficient energy to the relatively disconnected Sochi. Energy generation capacity has increased in the Sochi region by 800% with the completion of these energy infrastructure projects.
Russia has been working to improve their energy efficiency for the games though, having installed solar powered radiators and boilers, LED lighting in their Olympic venues, and autonomous street lights that only activate when people are walking beneath. Russia also went on to incorporate the Olympic Committee's green building codes for Olympic venues into the National Russian Building Standard, which prior to this had no environmental efficiency requirements to it.
Of course, the true cost of all this development won't be apparent for some time, but a good visual look at the impact is found here, where you can compare the Sochi region pre- and post-Olympic development.
GOAL Update:
-Shorter showers haves been going well, even without a timer. I've found that the biggest contributor to shower length for me was the time it takes to wash my hair. I've decided to cut the number of times I wash my hair down to once every third shower. This way, a good five minutes at least is cut from the first two showers in each cycle. It's healthier to wash your hair less anyway, plus I'll be using less shampoo, reducing my consumption.
-Shopping for more sustainable goods is a little tougher, as there are definitely certain brands I prefer and I have to remind myself to look for the more sustainable option. Also, a lot of impulse items find their way into my cart, like candy. I'll be making a list of items for my next grocery trip to stick to.
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