Hey urban nomads! In the previous post, we talked about some environmental pollution that skiers and ski resorts bring about. As outdoor enthusiasts are becoming more environmentally conscious, I’m sure you will be glad to know that there has been a rise in sustainable ski resorts to try to mitigate this! However, are these resorts really living the eco-friendly attitudes? Stay tuned to find out more!

Taos Ski Valley is the first ski resort to earn B-Corporation Certification, which is awarded to companies that meet “the highest standards of verified economic, social and environmental performance, and public transparency” (Ditrinco, 2017).

Taos Ski Valley’s impact report

The ski resort has various ways of incorporating sustainability into its services, mainly under energy consumption, stewardship, water and waste management – which will be elaborated below and I will also give my thoughts on whether these are just marketing gimmicks.

Domestic flights

According to the company’s website, from 2014 to 2016, Taos Ski Valley reduced overall energy consumption by 10.9%, which amounts to 340 metric tons of carbon dioxide. They are further committed to reduce energy consumption by 20%. However, to make the ski resort more accessible to tourists, Taos Ski Valley launched its own airline, Taos Air, which offers scheduled flights from Austin and Dallas. It is the only scheduled airline operating out of Taos. Isn’t it ironic that a company which is aiming for a reduction in energy consumption promoting air travel?

Comparison of the different modes of transport

As can be seen from the above image, domestic flight releases the most emissions per passenger per km travelled,  as taking off uses more fuel than cruising (BBC, 2019). For shorter flights just like the ones provided by Taos Air, taking off accounts for a larger proportion of the journey hence more emissions released. For a ski resort promoting sustainability, shouldn’t they have focus on providing a greener alternative such as shuttle bus instead? Is tourism money and convenience all that matters?

Removing plastic bottles

Another initiative that Taos Ski Valley has adopted is the “Hydrate Locally. Help Globally.” program – which discontinued the sale of plastic bottles and instead provide reusable bottles. Through this initiative, an estimated 10,000 plastic bottles will be ‘saved’ annually. Although I do applaud their determination in removing all plastic bottles, however, does it really bring benefit to the environment in the long run? Well if the tourists only use the reusable bottle during the trip and once they are back home, they discard the bottle or just leave it to one side, then there might not be cost savings to the environment since it might actually require more materials to build the reusable bottle. The exact amount of cycles (usage of reusable bottle) necessary to achieve the environmental savings is unknown. But what is for sure is that if the reusable bottle is only used once, it definitely does not achieve its targeted environmental benefit.

Hence, the next time when you read up on the sustainability web page of a company, perhaps pay more attention to the details and determine whether it is real environmental conservation efforts or just a matter of greenwashing to attract more consumers.

That being said, with climate change and increasing temperatures, it might be a matter of time before these ski resorts have to adapt and find alternative ways of sustaining themselves aside from artificial snow – from trekking, yoga to well-being retreats.

References:

BBC. (2019). Climate change: Should you fly, drive or take the train? Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49349566

Ditrinco, G. (2017). Taos First Ski Resort in World to Earn This Honor. Retrieved from https://www.skimag.com/ski-resort-life/taos-first-ski-resort-in-world-to-earn-this-honor

Sustainability (n..d). Retrieved from https://www.skitaos.com/discover-taos/our-purpose/sustainability