What’s fun, free – and green all over? The Antlers at Vail’s ‘Trash Pickin’ & Picnickin’ Package’!
Thank you to our guests for a fantastic winter 2013/2014! The sun is out and we are preparing for summer. As a special thank you, we’d like to invite you to be a part of our green team this weekend with Trash Pickin’ & Picnickin’. You can help us pick up trash on the highway for a few hours Saturday morning (April 26), join us for a free picnic afterward (that’s optional) and we’ll give you a free night* on Friday or Saturday night. That’s it … no other catch. If you want to stay an additional night, we have special rates available. But if you just stay one night … it’s a freebie! It’s our way of thanking you for staying with us, and for helping us keep our world a little cleaner place.
Guests will enjoy participating in one of its most long-standing sustainable efforts – its highway cleanup program. General manager Rob LeVine says, “We’ve been cleaning up our two-mile stretch of Vail Pass since 1988; this year, we thought our guests might like to join us and see what a thoroughly good time we always have.” The Antlers – which has incorporated numerous eco-friendly business practices long before the term ‘green’ was coined – recently was awarded the TripAdvisor GreenLeader and Actively Green 2015 statuses, in addition to the Vail Valley Success Awards 2009 Green Business of the Year.
The Antlers team has always been environmentally conscious and we are quite proud of our longstanding leadership as a green hotel. We feel privileged to call this special valley our home, and our entire team appreciates the important role we play in reducing waste and pollution, and in leading conservation efforts. So, we are very excited to announce that we have been accepted as a Silver level GreenLeader into the new TripAdvisor® GreenLeaders™ program – one of only two Vail lodgings to achieve the TripAdvisor GreenLeaders status. The program helps travelers plan greener trips by identifying environmentally-friendly accommodations across the U.S. In addition to its TripAdvisor honor, the Antlers also was one of the first Vail hotels to earn Actively Green 2015 status as designated by Sustainable Travel International.
While the recent green news isn’t a first for the Antlers, which was named Vail Valley Partnership Green Business of the Year several years ago, the new honors are meaningful for the hotel “because they acknowledge our continuing attention to environmentally-friendly efforts,” says General Manager Rob LeVine. “Our whole team enjoys brainstorming additional ways to save energy and reduce our impact on the planet, and we continue to implement ideas as they’re suggested. We also have been active in supporting the Vail community’s emphasis on going green – including acting as a sponsor of the Town of Vail’s portable solar VoltsWagon.”
From being a Vail Valley leader in converting wood-burning fireplaces to gas more than 20 years ago to installing an environmentally friendly laundry that’s one of the greenest in the area to smaller efforts like using refillable amenities containers in all of its suites, the Antlers has made green practices a regular part of doing business for decades. Additional eco-friendly initiatives include a highway cleanup day that guests can help with for a free overnight stay, free bus passes for employees, hotel-wide recycling, purchasing supplies with recyclable content, new smart landscape sprinkler timers with moisture sensors, investment in solar panels and wind power, participation in the Town of Vail’s Sole Power program and much more. For information about the Antlers at Vail’s many green practices, visit the Green Efforts page on the Antlers website.
TripAdvisor GreenLeaders
The TripAdvisor GreenLeaders program was developed in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR® program, the U.S. Green Building Council, and the United Nations Environment Programme. “TripAdvisor GreenLeaders are leading the hospitality industry in making efforts to improve their environmental footprint,” says Jenny Rushmore, director of responsible travel at TripAdvisor. Travelers can search for accommodations with GreenLeaders status on the TripAdvisor site and view a detailed list of environmentally-friendly practices. For more information on the program, visit www.tripadvisor.com/GreenLeaders.
Actively Green 2015
Actively Green 2015 is a community-driven collaboration with a goal of certifying at least 100 businesses across the Vail Valley for sustainability best practices by the February 2014 FIS World Alpine Ski Championships. The program offers education, support and resources to Vail Valley business toward achieving certification as designated by globally recognized nonprofit Sustainable Travel International (STI).
I woke up this morning and as 300,000,000 other Americans or so do, I brushed my teeth. Big difference though on this particular morning; I turned the water off while I moved the Johnson & Johnson, soft bristle, blue handled Flintstone toothbrush from side to side. For 30 or 40 seconds I didn’t waste water.
I’m not usually a breakfast person, but on this day I felt like eggs and maybe a slice of watermelon. I look into the bowels of my refrigerator and no eggs or watermelon or anything else that wasn’t in a beer can. I need to go to my local grocer and restock. I gather my car keys and some currency. I start the car and have no gas. Leaning against the wall in front of the car is my bike. “Why not”, I say to myself. I peddle to the City Market, purchase what fits it my back pack and proceed home for what is now a well deserved breakfast. Didn’t have to buy gas, drive the car, use those plastic grocery bags and I got some excersise.
When I’m at work here at the Antlers, I move around the building quite a bit. I also wait alot for an elevator. Today I decide to take the steps rather than stare at the floor looking stupid while I waste precious minutes of my life wondering if the cable car will ever come to my floor. “Walk the steps” I tell myself. “I’ll get there faster, help preserve my girlish figure and I can save the Antlers a dime”. Those elevators use a lot of energy.
I get home from work and want to eat again. The few dishes I have are dirty. I wash them by hand. Everything tastes better on the BBQ grill. No reason to use 4 stove tops and an oven. I need music when I eat (blues for BBQ, Sinatra for Italian sausage, etc), but the light bulb burned out over the stereo, so I replace it with a flourescent. I check my e-mails before I go to bed and then turn my computer off. Now it’s time to brush my teeth again.
Nothing is really happening to me. It just all seems to make sense.
May 16, 2010 – Vail, CO – The Antlers at Vail, a condominium hotel and conference center, has named Greg Ziccardi to the newly-created position of Sustainability Coordinator. Ziccardi is responsible for researching, maintaining and improving the resource conservation, energy efficiency, recycling and sustainability practices at the Antlers at Vail hotel.
“This is new era in the Antlers’ longstanding commitment to sustainability,” says General Manager Rob LeVine. “I’m confident that Greg will do a great job. He’s excited and passionate about the growth opportunity – both for himself and the Antlers.” Ziccardi has been with the hotel since 2000, and also lives on site as a property manager.
The Antlers is a 90-room condominium hotel with 2600 square feet of meeting space, conveniently located in the redeveloped Lionshead area near the Vail Gondola. Named the ‘Green Business of the Year’ in 2009 by the Vail Valley PartnershipSuccess Awards, the Antlers Vail condominiums is also proud to be a Green Star-rated business. With condominiums ranging from studio suites up to four bedrooms and plenty of space to spread out, each room at the Antlers includes fully-equipped kitchens, fireplaces, outdoor balconies, free Internet access and free parking in a heated indoor garage. There are numerous restaurants, galleries and shops within walking distance, and the free Vail town shuttle stops just footsteps away. For more information, call 1-800-843-8245 or visit the Antlers web site at www.antlersvail.com.
Media Contacts: Rob LeVine, General Manager, The Antlers at Vail, (970) 476-2471, [email protected] or Darla Worden, WordenGroup Strategic Public Relations, (307) 734-5335, [email protected].
Actively Green 2015
