Next Sunday, hundreds of millions of people will gather in homes, restaurants and bars to watch the Super Bowl. As a Cleveland Browns fan (egads, it hurts to say that these days), I have little interest in the outcome, although I do admit it would be nice for Peyton Manning to finally win it all. I say that at the risk of forever alienating any Chicago Bears fan who happens to be reading this column. Here is one thing you probably did not know about the big game: The National Football League (NFL) will be planting trees and buying renewable-energy certificates to offset greenhouse gas emissions from the game. (Feel free to insert your own jokes here.)
Yes, believe it or not, the NFL has a Director of Environmental Programs and it hired scientists from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to compute how much carbon will be emitted by its fleet of vehicles, which includes more than 300 vans, cars and limos driving 94,000 miles on local roads during Super Bowl week. The estimate: 260 tons. They then took studies by the Princeton University Carbon Mitigation Center and the U.S. Forest Service and determined they would need to plant one acre of trees to soak up the carbon. The NFL has been working since last summer to get those trees planted. If the NFL can do something, why not a travel industry that is so dependent on the burning of fossil fuels?
Increasingly, meeting planners, travel and hotel groups are turning to organizations that specialize in offsetting to develop programs for themselves and their customers. Offsetting programs fund initiatives such as tree planting and renewable energy development to help create a better future for everyone. To some, investing in offsets may be a form a guilt trip relief, but to others it is a serious attempt to start transforming the way our economy works.
Industry Offsetting Examples
In October, Grand Teton Lodge Company (GTLC) announced that it will offset 100 percent of its energy use by purchasing clean, renewable wind-generated energy. By purchasing energy credits equal to the company’s entire electricity use, GTLC became one of the largest purchasers of wind power in Wyoming. They purchased energy credits through Boulder, Colo.-based Renewable Choice Energy.
Because it is physically impossible to deliver electricity straight from a wind farm to GTLC, renewable energy credits make purchasing wind power possible. Wind energy credits ensure that the amount of electricity the company uses is replaced onto the power grid with wind power. Wind farms sell renewable energy credits to better compete with fossil fuels, allowing consumers to choose clean sources of electricity.
GTLC will work in conjunction with its parent company, Vail Resorts, to purchase wind credits from Renewable Choice Energy, thereby avoiding more than 211 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions annually, which according to the Environmental Protection Agency is the equivalent to taking 18,000 cars off the road or planting more than 27,000 acres of trees.
Last summer, Tim and Diane Mueller, owners of Okemo Mountain Resort in Vermont, Mount Sunapee Resort in New Hampshire, and Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado, entered into an agreement with Gunnison County Electric Assn. to purchase 27 million kilowatt hours of Renewable Energy Certificates from Sterling Planet, a leading retail renewable energy provider.
How to Get Started
If you have not yet investigated offsetting programs, there are numerous organizations with ones to consider: Conservation International, Sustainable Travel International, The Climate Trust, Native Energy, TerraPass, and Carbonfund.org, to name a few. Most sites include calculators to help you determine how many tons of carbon you will need to offset. Costs vary per ton but Carbonfund.org, for example, charges $5.50 per metric ton.
Start by determining the carbon footprint of your own company. After selecting your offset partner and initiating your program, don’t hesitate to spread the word to your business partners and customers. Issue a press release. Post information on your website and throughout your property. By no means will what the NFL is doing offset the energy burned by fans traveling to and from the game, or the millions of gallons of fuel consumed by Americans going to and from homes and establishments to watch it. It may even be more publicity than substance. But still, it is something.
If your hotel is participating in an offset program, please let me know. I would love to know how it is working. This is a very new concept for all of us. Oh yeah, on Sunday, don’t forget the chips and dip.
As always, I can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com, or by calling (440) 243-2055. I look forward to hearing from you.
