This month, athletes from around the world will be competing for medals at the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games being held in Vancouver, B.C. Canada.

But there is another set of winners from the Games that will be honored: Game partners, sponsors, and organizer VANOC for initiatives that demonstrate positive and measurable social, economic, and environmental impacts through the Vancouver 2010 Sustainability Stars program. This showcase will demonstrate to other parts of the world innovations and methods that could help them achieve an improved quality of life while making a difference in the Vancouver area.

To be awarded a Sustainability Star, an innovation must demonstrate two or more sustainability features, be directly linked to the Olympic Games, and produce a measurable outcome. It must also be new to the Vancouver 2010 Games.

Some key green Sustainability Stars recipients include:

• Avaya and Bell Canada – for Nortel’s IP network equipment that Bell Canada is deploying for the games. The VANOC network will be the first ever all-IP converged network used in the Olympics, one involving less equipment to deliver equivalent or superior performance than previous ones.

• Canadian Pacific – for using 20 GE Evolution Series locomotives to move equipment and goods. On average, each train reduces the associated emissions of approximately 280 trucks from highways.

• Government of Canada, Province of British Columbia, City of Vancouver, and Vancouver Airport Authority – for the Canada Line rapid transit. The Canada Line links downtown Vancouver with Vancouver International Airport and the city of Richmond.

• Ricoh – for its specialized applications for output devices (print, fax, and copy), providing the economic and environmental benefits of reducing paper and energy consumption. These applications are new to the Games, have involved unique partners such as PrintAudit and DigitalStoreFront, and will be used on an unprecedented scale during the 2010 Winter Games.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about sustainability