Just this past summer, I visited the Expo 2010 in Shanghai with my Dad. I had a blast there and checked out a lot of different countries’ exhibits, including Canada’s.
I was pretty proud of the Canadian Pavilion not only because I got to bypass the hour-long lineup and go in as a VIP with my Canadian passport, but because of how Canada included sustainability into its Expo theme – “The Living City: inclusive, sustainable, creative.” In particular, as explained on the Canada Expo website, one of the pillars of Canada’s theme is “Sustainable Cities”, indicating that our cities “strive to attain a balance between the needs of people and the environment, including the interdependence of rural and urban life.”
After doing some research to investigate how exactly Canada incorporated sustainability in its exhibition, I was happy to discover that Canada isn’t just all talk. For example, the exterior skin of the pavilion is made of 4000 m2 of Canadian red cedar, which is certified by the Canada Wood Association and Canada Wood China. Besides that, the structure is designed in such a way that the cedar boards can easily be dismantled so that it can be reused after the Expo is over. There is a “green wall” that leads to the courtyard outside the pavilion which operates as a natural bio air filter.
After today’s discussion in class about air travel and how it’s not very environmentally friendly, I think it’s interesting to note that the total expected visitors for the Shanghai Expo from May to October is 70 million, with the number of international visitors amounting to 3.5 million*. Even though some exhibits did a wonderful job showcasing their newest “green” technologies and advocating sustainable living methods, that’s a lot of flights and a lot of fuel used to gather people at these exhibits to learn more about sustainability, not to mention some people don’t even care about the “green-ness” of it, and not all exhibits have a sustainability aspect to it.
*Source: Expo 2010 Facts and Figures
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