How “Green” Is Your Favorite Snowboarding Resort?
Snowboarding is, I’m sorry to say, a sport with a very high impact on the environment. From the manufacturing of the snowboards themselves, using chemicals and epoxies and outputting non-recyclable boards, to the shipping of foreign-made clothing and gloves from overseas to our local shops, to the resorts themselves, where trees have to be cut down and huge amounts of energy each day are used to power the lifts and buildings high up on the mountain - tons of carbon is released. And let’s not forget about us driving for hours to get there!
Many (most?) resorts recognize this and whether it is out of true concern for their impact to the effects of global warming, or simply them hopping on the “green marketing” bandwagon, have put more eco-friendly initiatives in place. Some are no-brainers, such as putting bottle and can recycling bins next to trash cans, and others are major undertakings, such as retrofitting buildings for energy efficiency.
Here’s what some of my favorite mountains are doing environmentally (well, at least what their websites say they’re doing…)
Committed to reduce 5% of its water consumption and10% greenhouse gas emissions by 2015
Established Environmental Programs department in 2000 to push sustainability programs; won awards for environmental achievement
Purchases wind credits to offset carbon use - making it “100% wind powered”
Almost all resorts have an “environment” link right from their home page. Truth be told, many resorts, including those noted above, claim environmentalism but simply buy credits to offset their own carbon use. I really don’t know how much of an environmental impact wind and carbon credits have. I still think they’re kind of a scam - true sustainability begins with changing your own behaviors, not just”de-guilting” yourself by buying credits. This goes for the resorts too. Companies shouldn’t be calling themselves GREEN just because they buy thousands of carbon credits - when at the same time they are still using tons of gas, diesel, and electricity without a change to the infrastructure to be more efficient.
Shayboarder has an interesting commentary on this very topic (and I quote in part, “just cause I buy an eco friendly board … isn’t gonna change that you drive 2 hours to the mountain by yourself…”)
LibTech Snowboards is one board manufacturer that does put the environment first in its factories.
TaraMetBlog.com has 20 green tips you can use for yourself in everyday life.
So what are you or your favorite mountain doing to be a little “greener?”
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Thanks for bringing the environment to the forefront of the sport we love. We all love being out on the hill, but often forget about the impact of the sport on the environment. At the end of the day - this is about SUSTAINABILITY. You bring up some good points, but there are so many considerations. At resorts, the impact of erosion, water use, chemicals used for snow conservation, etc. not calcuable and continues to change dramatically the terrain, water and soil quality an on and on. However, I give props to resorts for carbon credits, recycling and changes to existing processes. Baby Steps - we need a fundamental change in resort visitor behavior to make more changes.
As far as “green” boards & products are concerned, much of the driving force is us consumers. We have an obligation to push manufacturers to not only change processes, but also type of raw materials. And the changes need apply to all products because, as Shay notes, adding one “green” board or jacket to an otherwise not green line is not environmentally friendly.
We have a long way to go to “save our winters” and not to sound hokey, but respect our Mother Earth.
Comment by Courtney — February 8, 2009 @ 8:26 am
Thanks Courtney for your insightful commentary! Yes, I agree “green” changes must start with the consumer. I personally try to do little things like using my own coffee mug at starbucks to buy refills, using cloth bags at the grocery store, buying recycled napkins & toilet paper, but those actions do little to offset the fact I drive very far to get to work. I do appreciate the efforts resorts are taking though, and wish we would see more of it… I think it’s a hard sell given the current economy (a lot of the changes are major infrastructure and process changes, which cost money.) We will see though.
Comment by Erica — February 10, 2009 @ 8:33 am