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Japan collects old gadgets to craft 2020 Olympic medals

Japan collects old gadgets to craft 2020 Olympic medals
Winners are grinners at the 2016 Rio Olympic games
Winners are grinners at the 2016 Rio Olympic games
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Winners are grinners at the 2016 Rio Olympic games
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Winners are grinners at the 2016 Rio Olympic games

The gold, silver and bronze medals handed out at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games may also feature a hint of green, with the organizing committee launching an initiative to craft the awards with metals harvested from unused electronic devices.

Announced yesterday, the venture calls on the people of Japan to donate their old gadgets and play a part in forming the some 5,000 Olympic and Paralympic medals that will be awarded at the 2020 games. The move is a response to a recommendation from the International Olympic Committee that calls for sustainability to be worked into the planning and execution of the 2020 games.

This means that collection boxes will be placed in public offices and more than 2,400 of mobile phone operator NTT Docomo's stores. The public will be invited to drop off their unused electronic gadgets as the organizing committee aims to gather eight tons of metal, an amount that would be reduced to two tons throughout the production process.

"Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic medals will be made out of people's thoughts and appreciation for avoiding waste," said Japan's three-time Olympic gold medallist Kohei Uchimura. "I think there is an important message in this for future generations."

Source: Tokyo 2020

1 comment
1 comment
c4jjm
This is great! Let us poison all the best competitors with heavy metals that they will wear around their necks! What a great plan!
And if, by some rigorous method they manage to remove all the lead and worse heavy metals...how is this any greener?!