Responsible Tourism - Aspen
Ski Safari asked Aspen resort management how they limit the resort's environmental impact e.g. usage of renewable energy sources, waste management and recycling programmes etc....
Here's a summary of Aspen Skiing Company's impressive environmental accomplishments:
- Committed to the first significant purchase of renewable energy certificates in the ski industry;
- Established largest solar photovoltaic system in ski industry;
- Became the first ski resort in the United States to be certified to the ISO 14001 standard;
- Established the first ski-resort supported Environment Foundation (over$1 million given to local enviro causes);
- Built one of the first 11 LEED certified buildings in the world; then a second, (LEED Silver) now working on a third;
- Became the first ski resort to join the Chicago Climate Exchange;
- Developed the ski industry's first climate policy;
- Launched the first climate change education campaign in the ski industry;
- Became the first ski resort to fuel all of its snowcats with biodiesel;
- Built a small hydro-electric plant to power a portion of its operations; and
- Received numerous awards recognizing its environmental commitment.
Ski Safari asked Aspen whether they promote sustainable tourism e.g. sourcing local food products and supporting local suppliers etc....
Though we're not perfect and have a long, long way to go towards sustainabiity, we hope that our environmental programs create tangible action steps to help reduce our company's impact on the environment. Whether through our sustainability report, green development, habitat protection
and enhancement, on-mountain education, climate protection or green purchasing efforts, our goal is to lead the skiing industry toward more sustainable practices. It's a long slog, and we're frankly struggling with the challenges, but we think we're moving in the right direction.
One of our programs is a phased switch to 4 stroke snowmobiles. Since 2004 we've increased the number of clean four-stroke and direct-injection snowmobiles in our fleet to over 50% of 90 sleds. These machines significantly reduce emissions of hydrocarbons and particulate matter. Four-stroke engines are cleaner, quieter, and three times more fuel efficient. In 2007, we ordered 25 new snowmobilies. All were four strokes except for one "direct injection" model, a cleaner version of a two-stroke.
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