Mr. Weissman

Eco-Friendly Practices

Greening Your Resort

By Arthur Weissman, President and CEO, Green Seal, Inc.

Nowhere does the conventional clash between comfort and guest satisfaction, on the one hand, and the stereotypical austerity of sustainability, on the other, become as intense as at properties designed as playgrounds and pleasure places for guests - resorts foremost among them. Does a concern with fostering human health and environmental quality have a role here?

Given the title of this article and its author, you could presume we think it does. As with spas (described in an earlier article in this series), the concept of promoting a more healthful place in which to play, eat, and sleep is fully compatible with the goals of resorts. With people spending most of their awake time at resorts, in contrast to many other kinds of properties, and wanting to derive maximum pleasure from their stay, all the benefits of a greener environment come into play.

We consider a resort a lodging property that has a number of associated facilities for outdoor and indoor entertainment, such as golf, tennis, swimming, horseback riding, skiing, basketball, and billiards. The property generally features more upscale accommodations and dining. According to the AH&LA, in the United States (as of 2005) there are 3835 properties classified as resorts with an average size of 150 rooms.

To make a resort most sustainable, one should look at all of its facilities in terms of opportunities to incorporate greener products, systems, and operating procedures. There exist, for example, programs and certification schemes for "greening" golf courses that address such issues as use of water, pesticides, and fertilizers. Rather than attempt to cover all of these individual components, however, this article will examine the cross-cutting environmental issues of resorts. These include minimizing their actual environmental footprint on the landscape and associated ecosystem; avoiding cross-contamination; increasing efficiencies and reducing waste; and promoting more healthful and resource-efficient playstyles.

The Landscape Footprint

In the technical sense of the phrase, environmental footprint, we would analyze the true impact of a resort not only directly on the landscape but also in terms of all the resources it consumes and the pollution it produces - the footprint being the equivalent amount of land needed to support the resort. Given the complexity of this concept, we will address here only its actual physical impact on the surrounding landscape and its natural habitats, biological communities, and their functions (known collectively as ecosystems).

Resorts are generally large, or at least larger than if they only constituted the lodging property itself. With golf courses or other extensive facilities, they usually encompass a considerable area of the landscape. They also tend to grow in size as they become more popular or certain recreational facilities are added on to the original design (a second golf course, more ski runs, more tennis courts, a spa, etc.). This has the potential to greatly impact the landscape and ecosystem, and conversely a sustainable approach to growth can make the resort more harmonious with its surroundings.

Suppose a resort wants to erect a new facility that covers several acres. A survey by a local naturalist or ecologist (such as from a university) can determine the most sensitive habitats or ecosystems on the resort property where biodiversity is greatest and/or the habitat most fragile, and these should be avoided strenuously. Previously cleared or stripped land is a good candidate for new construction as opposed to clearing a forested or natural area. Another consideration is the strategic placement of facilities so that infrastructure such as power lines and plumbing can be linked efficiently and duplicative systems avoided.

An even more sophisticated approach is to build a new facility in harmony with nature, using the local natural attributes in a compatible way. Topography and orientation are key initial considerations: for example, siting and designing a building so that it appears to fit in the landscape, and with an east-west orientation that allows for appropriate solar gains and controls. Using natural, local materials and minimizing the footprint of the building also help. The building could have a green roof or at least a reflective roof, minimizing runoff and unwanted solar gains. There are many other aspects of "green" or sustainable buildings that can also be employed. Landscaping around a new building should use native plants and mimic natural communities; any valuable mini-ecosystems should be preserved and built around, and certainly any legacy specimens such as old trees should be protected and incorporated in the design.

Avoiding Cross-contamination

Most resorts consist of multiple facilities and buildings, and guests typically circulate among them. Since outdoor activities can cause soil to accumulate on footwear, especially during wet periods, there should be ample safeguards at the entrances to all facilities against tracking in dirt. The simple measure of having mats both outside and inside entrances can reduce substantially the load brought into facilities and the need to clean it out. Of course, the effectiveness of these mats depends on their being cleaned frequently with a vacuum.

Water is a critical resource that can easily become contaminated by various activities at a resort. County requirements will likely safeguard any freshwater supplies or streams from sewage and other wastewater. But the more widespread and pernicious source of potential contamination is run-off from the land of fertilizers, pesticides, and silt. Areas of bare land will experience erosion and cause significant sediment loading to streams, wetlands, or aquifer recharge areas; simple sediment traps such as hay bales should be employed along their perimeter, and for areas bare for long periods of time, a vegetative cover should be grown. Lawns and, particularly, golf courses can create heavy loadings of fertilizers and pesticides if they are managed intensively and without considering actual seasonal needs or soil conditions.

Increasing Efficiencies and Reducing Waste

Resorts can use their size and the diversity of their facilities in a positive way to reduce or eliminate waste and increase their resource efficiencies. What may be a waste in one sector of the resort could become a resource in another. For instance, food waste from the resort's restaurants can be composted to provide excellent fertilizer for the lawns, gardens, and golf course. Clippings from the golf course (which must be mowed regularly) can be added to the mulch. So-called gray wastewater, which comes from used dishwater or sink water rather than sewage, can be used to water lawns and the golf course after minimal treatment.

Given the size of a resort, purchasing in bulk the commonly used consumable goods provides not only cost benefits but also reductions in packaging, transportation, and numbers of products. The dispensing of cleaning chemicals, paints, and soil amendments can be centralized, with single large shipments to the resort to replenish stocks in large reusable dispensers. Even intangible commodities such as electricity can be purchased in bulk at a lower rate, thus enabling the resort to seek potentially more expensive "green" energy from renewable sources.

Finally, a good opportunity to reduce waste stems from the fact that virtually all guests in resorts stay for multiple nights. Establish a policy that sheets are changed only every third day unless the guest requests otherwise and that towels left hanging can be used again. Towel-linen reuse is the sustainable practice most commonly recognized by consumers but also the practice most commonly not really implemented. Make sure the housekeeping staff is fully trained to do this right.

Promoting More Healthful, Resource-efficient Play

Resorts are, ultimately, about adult and/or family play. As we have said in these columns many times before, there is nothing inherent in the pursuit of sustainability that should detract from guest satisfaction or comfort - actually, to the contrary.

The link between comfort, health, and sustainability holds for resorts: indoor environments such as gyms or pools that have toxic chemical residues from cleaning products, coatings, or structural material will not enhance the guest experience and may cause adverse health reactions; unnecessary applications of fertilizers or pesticides on the grounds will create an environment that repels wildlife and may harm both animals and people. Using environmentally preferable products and services will beckon guests and allow them to immerse themselves (literally) in your resort's facilities.

On another level, the resort can promote in a quiet, undidactic way the benefits of more sustainable play and lifestyles: offering healthier food in its restaurants, including organic and local foods; encouraging exercise and use of one's limbs instead of machines (e.g., discouraging use of golf carts except for the infirm); sponsoring age-appropriate participatory athletic events and contests; establishing and enforcing reasonable curfews to ensure quiet, restful time at night; and not promoting excessive use of alcohol.

Conclusion

More than any other property type, the resort connotes fun and entertainment. Sustainable practices at resorts can enhance these characteristics of resorts and avoid the possibility that unwanted wastes, toxics, or inefficiencies will reduce the pleasure guests seek. Rather than creating a more ascetic milieu, as conventional wisdom might suggest, a "green" resort should actually enhance pleasure and enjoyment.

Arthur B. Weissman, Ph.D., is President and CEO of Green Seal, Inc. He has experience in environmental science, policy, and standard-setting in public and private sectors. He has led the non-profit's resurgence as a force to make the economy more sustainable. He served as an international convener in developing the ISO 14000 standards for environmental labeling, and was the first Chair of the Global Ecolabeling Network. He has developed policy for the Superfund waste-cleanup program, served in the U.S. Senate as a Science Fellow, and worked for The Nature Conservancy. Mr. Weissman can be contacted at 202-872-6400 or aweissman@greenseal.org Extended Bio...

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