The Antlers at Vail once again is taking the lead.
The Antlers, along with The Wren (East-West Resorts) and the Sonnenalp, are the first resorts in Eagle County to be certified by the Town of Vail and Sustainable Travel International (STI) as “Actively Green for 2015“.
Actively Green is the brain trust of Kristen Bertuglia, the Sustainable Director for the Town of Vail, and Kim Langmaid who chairs the Eagle Valley Alliance for Sustainability. The goal is to certify 100 businesses in the Valley before the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships which are scheduled to be held in Vail and Beaver Creek. The process is rigorous and the intent is to show the world that our Valley is in harmony, not only with the environment, but with each other with regard to business operations.
The process began back on September 4th when the Antlers hosted the first STI Educational Seminar with 20 other business’s. The training for certification is an intense exercise that covers 21 steps that need to be addressed and adopted as policy.
The criteria range from educating employees and guests about green practices, tracking waste, energy and water use, monitoring green house gases, responsible purchasing and simply pledging to be a good neighbor in our community.
The certification is a “living document”.
Data is gathered and documented into categories on a monthly basis. This information is then used to determine the environmental impact we are having as we operate our business. Hopefully, we will see savings in water and energy use and demonstrate to employees and clients the importance of our efforts.
We are proud to be on the forefront of this effort and are excited for the all the businesses that will be joining us soon.
2015 and the World Ski Championships just aren’t that far off.
Greg
PS – Without our own Sustainability Coordinator (Greg Ziccardi) the Antlers wouldn’t be in the leadership position we are, both in terms of this Actively Green certification, as well as all of our ongoing efforts. -Rob
