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Stowe Meadows is committed to conserving the planet’s natural resources.
Since the Lodge's opening we are working toward decreasing our impact on
the environment and improve sustainability. Being environmentally responsible
is not a one day job and we hope to introduce new products, practices over
time while providing our guests a high quality experience.
Since our inception we are dedicated to making our business as "green"
as possible and strive to continually evolve the B&B as an environmentally
conscious "citizen" and to make 'green' choices in terms of:
-Waste minimization.
-Reuse/recycling.
-Energy efficiency.
-Conservation and management.
-Waste management.
-Freshwater resource management.
-Hazardous materials management.
-Environmentally and socially sensitive purchasing policies.
Stowe Meadows supports these long-term commitments in order to reduce
our burden on the local and global environment, removing unnecessary hazards
from its operations, protecting public health and potentially improving
the environmental quality of our region.
In our commitment to protecting Our Guests and the Environment our GREEN
initiative offers the following:
-State-of-the-art super insulated windows
-Non-toxic
cleaning products, air fresheners and organic outdoor fertilizers/pest
controls
-Low
VOC paints
-Individually controlled and programmable heating thermostats
-Use of
Energy Star appliances, home electronics and heating systems
-Compact
Fluorescent Bulbs (CFLs) throughout the lodge
-Lutron
Dimmers and Occupancy Sensors
-Yearly maintenance to maximize oil based heating system performance (>
85%)
-Proud Member of CO2Stats.com
-Work with suppliers whose products have environmentally friendly attributes
that maximize Post Consumer Recycled content, minimize toxicity and packaging,
or have any other environmentally preferable attributes, with minimal sacrifice
to price, quality, and delivery requirements
-Participate as a member (application in process) of the
Vermont's Green Hotels and Environmental program
-Promote Eco-Friendly Weddings and Events:
Ethical Weddings and
Portovert
DAY TO DAY GREEN PRACTICES
-Paperless Check-In
-Committed to using green products for the cleaning and maintenance of The
Lodge.
-Maximize
recycling and initiate a composting program into daily operations.
-We encourage guests to re-use towels and sources laundry services from
a provider with a green program.
-We prefers suppliers of fair trade and organic goods and services.
GOALS OF THIS POLICY
-1. To prevent added landfill waste, improve recycling, expand the market
development for the use of recycled/recyclable materials through lease agreements,
contractual relationships and purchasing practices with vendors, contractors,
businesses, and other public and governmental agencies.
-2. To generate less waste material by reviewing how supplies, materials,
and equipment are manufactured, purchased, packaged, delivered, used, and
disposed.
-3. To serve as a model for other hotels/Inns/B&Bs in Stowe to influence
waste prevention, recycling, and procurement efforts.
These are just a few of our continuing efforts to implement sound environmental
initiatives in our ongoing commitment to "Preserving the Past, Protecting
the Future.
Immediate Projects:
-Initiate a composting program, deploy rain barrels for our gardens, upgrade
to a High Energy
Washer/Dryer, monitor actively our power consumption, migrate
to 100% recycled paper products (napkins, paper towels, copy paper, bathroom
tissue) with a high percentage of post-consumer content (we'll do our best
to find paper products, which are 100% PCW recycled and are either unbleached
or bleached without using chlorine or chlorine derivatives), all collateral
will be printed on recycled paper using soy based ink, we'll introduce organic
snacks and beverages in our honor bar and serve coffee that is organic,
shade grown and/or fair trade and finally add in-room designer recycling
bins encouraging our guest to participate in reducing our environmental
impact.
Future Projects:
-Based on an environmental impact & a
wind/solar assessment, install a small
wind turbine.
Further Readings:
The Green Guide
Waterless Car Wash
Green Lodging News
Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool
Green Resources:
Terrapass Carbon Offsets
Zerofootprint Calculator
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