ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION AT GRAND CANYON SOUTH RIM
"When people actively and thoughtfully protect and preserve our planet's beautiful places, they have made a moral investment in that destination's continued success... When our guests and our employees start making lifestyle changes because of the initiatives they undertake or observe at our parks and resorts, then we will know that we have been truly successful."
Andy Todd, President & CEO, Xanterra Parks & Resorts®, Inc.
Our Policy
Xanterra has a strong environmental commitment in all aspects of our operations. We believe that increasing the sustainability of natural systems is not only good business, but also the right thing to do. To that end, we have developed a formal environmental policy that is the foundation for our every action.
Tangibles
Xanterra's extensive environmental initiatives at Grand Canyon National Park include:
- Retrofit of 14 "dirty" fuel oil boilers with clean-burning propane boilers
- Enhanced green procurement program including 100 % post-consumer waste recycled copy paper
- Retrofit of 20 in-park tour buses with new hydrous alcohol injection systems that result in 70 percent cleaner emissions and 20 percent better fuel efficiency
- Achievement of a 40% diversion and recycling rate
- Changing over 7,000 light bulbs to energy-saving compact fluorescent lamps
- A program where stay over guests must specifically request new sheets and towels -- saving water and energy
- ISO 14001 Certification of our Environmental Management System
- Membership in the US Environmental Protection Agency's National Environmental Performance Track
- A quarterly employee award to recognize individual environmental stewardship
Xanterra company-wide initiatives:
- A policy of purchasing seafood only from sustainable fisheries
- A ban on all polystyrene products
- Extensive use of post-consumer recycled content paper products
- Use of bulk dispensers in food service areas
- Use of environmentally sensitive cleaners in all janitorial areas
- Establishment of employee "green teams" at each location to provide suggestions for property-specific initiatives
- Distribution of a quarterly environmental newsletter
- Development of an environmental mission statement
Annual Report of Environmental Performance, 2004
2004 was the third successful year of implementation for Xanterra’s formal Environmental Management System (EMS). As we have done in past years, we completed or worked on every target set in that EMS. We also continued our corporate-wide environmental commitment through ecologix, Xanterra’s environmental program, and became the sixth Xanterra property to achieve the prestigious ISO 14001 certification for our EMS. But we didn’t stop there – we also did things above and beyond the targets of the EMS and for our efforts were recognized with awards from the National Park Service, Condé Nast Traveler magazine, an Arizona recycling organization, and our corporate affiliate. This 2004 Annual Report on Environmental Performance reports on these and other accomplishments over the last year.
Xanterra developed an ambitious set of targets in its 2004 EMS. We completed 27 targets and began work on three more. In addition, Xanterra exceeded these targets and accomplished nine more activities that further increased our environmental profile. Our accomplishments include beginning an employee volunteer program, expanding our utility tracking system, putting our Sustainability Report in all guest rooms, conducting a waste audit, developing a virtual Office Supply Reuse Center, and increasing our sustainable cuisine offerings.
Achievement of our targets fuels progress toward our overall performance objectives. In general, our resource usage remains below our baseline levels from 2000, even though we experienced higher business levels and a colder winter in 2004. Solid waste is down 27%, and our diversion rate remains around 40%, due in large part to more than doubling the amount of recycled materials. While total energy use has increased since 2000, electricity and diesel usage have declined, and we no longer use any fuel oil.
Xanterra also made progress toward achieving the objective of maximizing the recycled content of paper and other office products. For 2004, 34% of these purchases (based on cost) contained at least 10 % recycled content. This compares with an Arizona average of 8-12 % and a 23% rate in 2003. In addition, the amount of recycled materials in the items that we purchase increased almost 16% over 2003. The amount purchased is almost 20% higher than 2002 (the first year these data were collected). These data also indicate that Xanterra buys back the equivalent of 12% of the paper and 27% of the plastic sent out for recycling – making progress toward “closing the loop” in the recycling area.
More information is available in our 2004 Annual Report to the National Environmental Performance Track program (www.epa.gov/performancetrack under “Members”).
Notables
We are honored to have our efforts acknowledged by our partners and peers:
- Conde Nast Traveler Ecotourism Award, Runner-up Lodge/Resort, 2004.
- 2004 National Park Service Environmental Achievement Award (Partner with Grand Canyon
National Park).
- 2004 Governor’s Pride in Arizona (Partner with Grand Canyon National Park).
- 2003 Governor's Tourism Award for Arizona Preservation.
- 2002 Environmental Achievement Award from the Environmental Protection Agency (Death Valley and Grand Canyon National Parks).
- 2002 Department of Interior Achievement Award (Honorable Mention) (Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Parks).
- 2001 Department of Interior Environmental Achievement Award
- 2001 Travel Industry Association's Odyssey Award (Environment category).
Constant Commitment
At Xanterra South Rim, L.L.C. we believe that there are few more formidable - or more complex tasks ahead of us than that of reaching a balance between business and the natural environment. Ultimately, our planet's - as well as our very own well being depend upon the continued health of natural systems.
Our environmental efforts can generally be divided into two categories:
Sustainability - what we do to develop the most environmentally sound resort operations. Actions identified in our comprehensive Environmental Management Plan address:
- Waste management
- Energy and water conservation
- Pollution prevention
- Green design
- Green procurement
- Education
Improving the World Around Us - what we do to support and promote environmental protection, activism, and preservation outside of our operations. As we improve the environmental footprint of our operations, Xanterra South Rim, L.L.C. remains attentive to the world beyond our boundaries. We have taken action through:
- Our local clean-up days
- Our fish policy to protect threatened species
- Our energy reductions to reduce regional air pollution and protect the atmosphere
- Our employee volunteer program
We know that our commitment to the environment is ongoing, will take constant work, and will always need improving. Simply, we know we're not perfect. But we will continue to strive to protect natural resources, taking steps toward protecting the quality of life for our guests, our employees, our children - and the entire planet.
Our Team
Lisa McNeilly, Director, Environment, Health and Safety.
Responsible for the Environmental Management System at Grand Canyon, Lisa's credentials include the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, the White House Climate Change Task Force, the U.S. Department of Energy and the International Food Policy Research Institute.
You can e-mail Lisa at environ-gcsr@xanterra.com.
Chris Lane, Director of Environmental Affairs
Chris Lane is responsible for creating and implementing company-wide environmental management systems and managing current environmental programs. He is Xanterra's liaison to the National Park Service for its environmental audit program.
Learn More
You can read more about our company's environmental efforts by visiting the Xanterra Parks & Resorts® website.
Have suggestions, ideas or questions regarding our environmental efforts at Grand Canyon?
Please e-mail us at
environ-gcsr@xanterra.com.
