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An Olympics first — Tokyo athletes will sleep on cardboard beds

Olympics organizers showed off the beds and a few other furnishings on Thursday at their headquarters. “Those beds can stand up to 200 kilograms,” explained Takashi Kitajima, the general manager of the Athletes Village, speaking through an interpreter, reports the Associated Press.

That 200 kilograms comes to about 440 pounds, and as Mashable points out, “very few athletes would surpass that weight unless you’re cheekily combining a few in one bed.”

“They are stronger than wooden beds,” Kitajima added. And he did take into account wild celebrations – adding, “of course, wood and cardboard would each break if you jumped on them.”

India s First Cardboard Furniture by Amrish J Kawa in 2015. So  why not make cardboard beds?

India’s First Cardboard Furniture by Amrish J Kawa in 2015. So, why not make cardboard beds?
Ambrishraja (CC BY-SA 4.0)


The beds will be recycled into paper products after the Olympics and Paralympics are over. The mattresses – they’re not made of cardboard – will be recycled into plastic products.

The mattresses are sort of neat. They are broken up into three distinct sections, and the firmness of each section can be adjusted. With the cardboard beds and what appears to be cardboard storage furniture and nightstands, the room has a decidedly spartan look.

“The organizing committee was thinking about recyclable items, and the bed was one of the ideas,” Kitajima explained, crediting local Olympic sponsor Airweave Inc. for the execution. Right from the start, the organizing committee prioritized sustainability.

The Olympic medals are made from donated electronic devices. The people of Japan donated 78,985 tons of old electronic devices from which 66.8 pounds of gold, 9,039 pounds of silver, and 5,952 pounds of bronze were extracted to create the medals.

Self-driving Toyota  e-Palette  adapted to support athlete mobility at the Olympic and Paralympic Ga...

Self-driving Toyota e-Palette, adapted to support athlete mobility at the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Toyota USA


To get around in the Olympic Village, athletes and staff will have Toyota’s self-driving e-Palettes running a loop service, and the victory ceremony podiums will be made from recycled plastic.

The entire Olympic Village is set to be completed in June. The Olympics open on July 24 followed by the Paralympics on Aug. 25. The athlete’s village is being built alongside Tokyo Bay and will comprise 18,000 beds for the Olympics and be repurposed after the Olympics into 21 apartment towers. Even more building construction is being planned in the next several years.

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We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our dear friend Karen Graham, who served as Editor-at-Large at Digital Journal. She was 78 years old. Karen's view of what is happening in our world was colored by her love of history and how the past influences events taking place today. Her belief in humankind's part in the care of the planet and our environment has led her to focus on the need for action in dealing with climate change. It was said by Geoffrey C. Ward, "Journalism is merely history's first draft." Everyone who writes about what is happening today is indeed, writing a small part of our history.

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