Vancouver Olympics speed skating rink

The pine beetle’s loss is the speed skater’s gain.

Horace Chan

6. Vancouver Olympics. The push to make each successive Olympics greener than the last has practically become a medal-worthy event itself, and Vancouver is going for the gold. Greened-up venues for the 2010 games include a speed-skating track that features a roof made of wood salvaged from a pine-beetle infestation; a LEED-gold curling arena that will be converted into a community center after the games are over; and a hockey rink that captures and reuses the energy needed to make its ice. (For more from Vancouver, check out Jonathan Hiskes’ firsthand reports.)