The First Certification Granted by Green Concierge, a Program that Works to Green Tourism and Lodging Facilities throughout the Catskill Watershed Region
June 27, 2011 – Frost Valley YMCA, a 6,000 acre residential camping, environmental education, and conference center located in the heart of the Catskill Mountain Park is the first to complete the necessary training and assessment to receive Tier 1 – Bronze Certification from the Green Concierge (GC) Project.
Green Concierge, which is conceived of and administered by environmental consulting firm HospitalityGreen, has been working with Frost Valley since December 2010. During that time, 24 members of the Frost Valley staff have participated in an onsite Green Facility Training and the institution has implemented a number of major sustainable practices, including: replacing all light bulbs with energy efficient ones, recycling, composting, disposing of hazardous waste according to state regulations, using non-toxic cleaning products, upgrading sinks, showerheads and toilets to water-conserving models, purchasing recycled-content soft tissues, paper towels and office paper, and sourcing local produce whenever possible. HospitalityGreen’s online Resource Tracking Tool (The RTT) helps them track measurable environmental improvements and target opportunities for reducing costs.
Sustainable living has always been a core value for Frost Valley, and the organization continually strives to be conscientious caretakers of their facilities, natural resources, environment, community and each other. Tom Holsapple, Frost Valley’s Director of Operations, has led the participation in the Green Concierge program. “I’m thrilled at the advances we have made through the Green Concierge Project. Working with GC has formalized our sustainable efforts and presented an opportunity to refresh what was started years ago. Ultimately, it has changed the culture of our organization and our efforts will be passed along to the 40,000 people a year who come to use our facility. Seventy percent of those guests are kids, so we are creating a healthy and sustainable place and environmental awareness for the next generation.”
Evadne Giannini, Principal of HospitalityGreen LLC, says, “Frost Valley is the first of the more than 30 Green Concierge participants to receive certification. It couldn’t go to a more worthy organization. They have infiltrated sustainable practices into every aspect of their operation and really set the bar high for others to follow.”
The GC Certification process is structured in three tiers (Bronze, Silver and Gold) – with each tier providing a realistic benchmark and advancement to subsequent tiers dependent upon a business’ commitment, their ongoing use of the RTT to track resource use, and their dedication to increasingly rigorous sustainable practices. Frost Valley will be working towards receiving the silver certification in 2012.
The GC Certification was recently recognized and ranked by Greenlodge.org as a Silver Tier Program, placing it within an elite group of national and international third party certification programs.
In addition to the certification program, the Green Concierge Project, through funding from the Empire State Development (ESD) and the Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC), provides free one-on-one technical assistance to over 150 tourism and lodging facilities in the Catskill Watershed Region to improve their operational economic and environmental sustainability practices.
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HospitalityGreen LLC is a New York based consulting firm specializing in environmental and operations consulting services. HospitalityGreen partners with service-based and product-based clients throughout the hospitality, manufacturing and institutional healthcare industries, to implement sustainable business practices.
Established in 1901 as one of the nation's first summer camps, Frost Valley YMCA now provides four seasons of outdoor, experiential and educational opportunities. Frost Valley YMCA is a 6,000 acre residential camping, environmental education, and conference center located in the heart of the “forever wild” Catskill Mountain Preserve and serves over 40,000 visitors per year.
For more information on HospitalityGreen and the Green Concierge Project, visit www.hospitalitygreen.com or call (845) 436-6173.
CONTACT
Samantha Hoover, PR Director
HospitalityGreen
Tel: (917) 337-2979
Email: s.hoover@hospitalitygreen.com
Website: www.hospitalitygreen.com
Denise Owens, Director of Marketing & Communications
Frost Valley YMCA
Tel: (845) 985-2291, ext. 211
Email: dowens@frostvalley.org
Website: www.frostvalley.org
