Fairmont Hotels go a deeper shade of green

When Fairmont Hotels launched its green program in 1990, it was unusual for two reasons - virtually no other hotel chain was doing it, and it started from the bottom up.


Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel
 

"It was definitely a grassroots initiative at first," says Fairmont's Mike Taylor. "We did an opinion survey of employees, and an environmental program was something they invariably wanted."

The program started modestly enough, with things such as guests reusing towels and sheets.  Fairmont has since blossomed into a green global leader, taking innovative steps such as buying wind power, setting carbon reduction targets and offering eco-friendly conventions and meetings.

The Fairmont's Alberta properties are at the forefront of this movement, particularly those located in national parks.  Low-flow water fixtures, low-energy lights, extensive recycling programs and free overnight parking for guests arriving in hybrid vehicles are just starters at all the Alberta Fairmont hotels.  For example:

  • The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise purchases 50 per cent of its electricity from wind and water power and converts kitchen grease into biodiesel for its grounds equipment and shuttle buses
  • The Fairmont Banff Springs hotel minimizes pesticide use and protects wildlife habitat on its golf course, composts food waste and cleans its pools with salt instead of chlorine
  • The Fairmont Hotel Macdonald, in Edmonton, has cut its paper use by 20 per cent and donates leftover food to a homeless women's program
  • The Fairmont Palliser hotel, in Calgary, reuses old robes as cleaning rags and has installed a sophisticated water treatment system that saves substantial amounts of water and chemicals.

"Over the past couple of years, there's been a heightened awareness of environmental issues and sustainability," says Taylor.  "Those issues are definitely affecting decisions of where people are visiting, staying and holding conventions or meetings. One question that's increasingly popping up when meeting or conference planners are choosing a venue is: ‘Do you have an environmental program in place?'"

With that in mind, Fairmont Hotels recently unveiled its Eco-Meet program.  The hotel chain offers event planners such options as paperless meeting services, carbon offset purchases, natural lighting for exhibits, white boards instead of flip charts, non-disposable cutlery and reduced condiment packaging, edible/organic flower arrangements, organic beverages and sustainable seafood, and composted kitchen waste.