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The 2010 Olympic promotional building poster at the Royal Centre or the RBC building on Georgia & Burrard is being taken down and will be recycled.

The giant poster was the largest of its kind in Canada measuring 380 ft tall x 111 ft wide and it featured 2010 Olympic Women’s Freestyle Skier Kristi Richards.

The material was made of Graphic Film manufactured by 3M Canada. Normally such a material cannot be recycled, but 3M has developed a way to do that. However, the job has to be done outside Canada.

It takes about seven days to remove the poster and the workers started the job last week, so by today, it should be pretty well done. The material will then be shipped to a recycling plant in New Jersey to be ground up and used as a binding agent in limestone tiles.

The company, Mannington, a flooring manufacturer developed the first known way of recycling post-use adhesive-backed graphic materials.

So the 2010 Olympics had been a catalyst that encouraged a firm like 3M to look for ways to reduce the environmental impact of its commercial waste.

I noticed one of the seaplanes I photographed recently had a sign that read ‘Fly Carbon Neutral’.

Actually, it doesn’t mean that the plane was using any sort of leading-edge combustible like one made from algae. All planes fly on ‘dirty’ jet fuel. What they mean by ‘Fly Carbon Neutral’ is that they help you find a way to offset the carbon emission for you since you fly with them.

Sometimes the airline company gives you a choice such as planting trees or contribute to a company that engages in reducing carbon footprints.

Whichever way, you paid extra to gain a better conscience. Not a lot mind you. If you fly a private jet, this extra expense is generally less than 1% of your ticket cost. Flying commercial airlines, you pay a higher percentage since the tickets price is lower.