Public skating rinks are a winter tradition in many cities across the world, but they can also be a symbolic tool in the fight for increased sustainability. In Mexico City, the world’s largest skating rink just opened in its main square, but there’s something different about this particular rink — it uses no water or power, making it completely eco-friendly. Designed by Swiss manufacturer Glice, the rink has a surface that serves as an ecological alternative to refrigerated ice.
Photo: Glice
Mexico City’s Eco-Friendly Skating Rink Is the World’s Largest
In contrast to conventional rinks, the one in Mexico City will save 49,000 gallons of water, which is the average monthly energy consumption of 4,000 households, and 95 tons of CO2 emissions.
Viktor Meier, co-founder and CEO of Glice, said, “We are honored to offer the Mexico City residents a fun and eco-friendly skating experience this holiday season. Glice looks like ice, glides like ice, but isn’t ice. It enables a great skating experience in locations where it would be ordinarily impossible to make and hold ice.” He added that this eco-friendly ice has shock-absorbing properties that will reduce the risk of skaters injuring themselves.
One sustainable skating rink won’t solve the climate crisis, but it lays the groundwork for other cities to follow suit and embrace a culture of eco-friendly skating.
The skating rink will be open to the public every day until the first week of January, from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM. 