Green Initiatives

Protecting our Mountain Environment

At Vail Spa we are committed to reducing environmental impacts by engaging our employees, owners, guests and community through the use of responsible products and sustainable practices.

We feel privileged to work and live in this beautiful Colorado mountain paradise and are dedicated to preserving it for generations to come. Our desire to respect our natural surroundings helps create a better environment of our guests, our employees, the community and the land. As we work to find the balance between offering a luxury guest experience and caring for our natural world and community, we aim to inspire, lead and mentor other business like ours to do the same. Vail Spa is proud to be recognized as an Actively Green Sustainable Business and CGBN/ELP Legacy Gold Leader.

OUR COMMITMENT TO THE ENVIRONMENT AND OUR COMMUNITY INCLUDES:

  • Easy-to-use Single Stream Recycling areas throughout the property and in residences
  • Use of recycled paper products; double-sided printing and copying; electronic confirmations and communications
  • Purchase of sustainable, recycled and local products including our local coffee
  • 100% non-smoking in common areas, inside and out
  • LED lighting throughout common areas and use of LED bulbs in rental residences
  • Housekeeping products are citric acid-based and free of dye, fragrance, toxic chemicals
  • Programmable thermostats installed throughout common areas and in residences
  • Installation of a Level II Electric Vehicle Charging Station encouraging purchase and use of electric vehicles on Colorado roads, reducing greenhouse gas emissions
  • Utility tracking - Vail Spa tracks, monitors and analyses consumption in the building, including water, electric and natural gas usage. This tracking is critical for understanding consumption patterns, adjusting for reduction in usage when possible and planning energy saving projects
  • Solar panels on the roof heat pools and common area domestic hot water
  • Environmentally friendly guest amenities provided in larger bottles to reduce plastic waste. Products are free of parabens, phthalates and artificial colors
  • Incentives to employees to carpool and use public transportation
  • Paid time off for employees to volunteer for community and environmental programs such as Habitat for Humanity, Highway Clean-Up and Salvation Army Adopt-A-Family/Food Drives
  • Memberships: Vail Valley Partnership – Destination Preservation and Eagle Valley Alliance for Sustainability
  • Vail Spa Green Recognition: Colorado Environmental Leadership Program/Colorado Green Business Network Gold Status since 2016 and Waking Mountains Science Center Actively Green Sustainable Business Leader since 2014

 

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ECOFACTS

  • The EPA estimates that 75 percent of what Americans throw in the trash could actually be recycled.
  • The national recycling rate of 30 percent saves the equivalent of more than five billion gallons of gasoline, reducing dependence on foreign oil by 114 million barrels.
  • Recycling 35 percent of our trash reduces global warming emissions equivalent to taking 36 millions cars off the road.
  • Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours – or the equivalent of half a gallon of gasoline.
  • More aluminum goes into beverage cans than any other product and Americans use over 80,000,000,000 aluminum cans every year.
  • Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial fleet of airplanes every three months.
  • To produce each Sunday’s newspapers, 500,000 trees must be cut down.
  • The average American uses seven trees a year in paper, wood and other products made from trees.
  • Approximately 1 billion trees’ worth of paper is thrown away every year in the U.S.
  • Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures each year.
  • Americans throw away 25,000,000 plastic beverage bottles every hour.
  • Recycling plastic saves twice the energy as burning it in an incinerator.
  • The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle can run a 100-watt light bulb for four hours.
  • A modern glass bottle would take 4,000 years or more to decompose – and even longer if it’s in the landfill.

What you can to do help!

  • Re-hang bath towels to indicate that you will be reusing them
  • Opt to reuse your bed linens on your bed throughout your stay
  • Make sure to turn off all lights and TVs when not in use
  • Turn down heat or cooling when leaving your vacation home
  • Participate in Single Stream Recycling
  • Take advantage of the complimentary public transportation in Vail

WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN DO TO PRESERVE OUR ENVIRONMENT?

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