Examiner.com/denver features article about ResortQuest Steamboat's Green Initiatives

The team at ResortQuest Steamboat was recently honored to host Susanna Speier of the Examiner.com/Denver online newspaper. Susanna Speier writes the 'Sustainable City' column to "innovate realistic and environmentally sustainable lifestyle adjustments." Her most recent column features ResortQuest's Trappeur's Crossing Resort, along with other Steamboat businesses striving to be green.

The article, "The sustainable steamboat: the green is in the details at Trappeur’s Crossing Resort" discusses ResortQuest's recycling program, Yepello chocolates, Thymes bath amenities, and Cascades Recycled tissue products. She also gives a delightful description of her Steamboat lodging:

"The suite was deliciously earthy. It was luxurious but not ostentatiously so. Sustainability was clearly the Gold Level boasting point. A Gold Level boasting point that was actively nourished and justified. Locally manufactured Yepello chocolates had been placed beside a decorative pine cone bowl. Each of the room's lamp supply was bountiful; as were the windows and balconies with views of snow-covered pinetree and mountains beyond. Technology was amped, where appropriate. LCD television screens and sound system and laser projected atomic clock was, thankfully, state of the art. The blizzard had made the drive there an exceptionally long one. I slept soundly and splendidly" ...Read complete article.

You can visit her website at susannaspeier.com and email ideas and suggestions at susanna@susannaspeier.com.

About the Examiner.com: Examiner.com serves 60 major markets across the country and is quickly becoming the premier online brand for local information and events. Their content is contributed by passionate, informed people known as Examiners. Examiners are people in your community with a common desire to share their knowledge and expertise with others. Examiners are college students, civil servants, retirees, doctors, musicians, magazine editors and stay-at-home parents.

ResortQuest Certified Gold in Steamboat Sustainable Business Program

"ResortQuest Steamboat Vacation Rentals Goes For Green & Wins Gold!" Today, ResortQuest Steamboat Vacation Rentals was awarded Gold Certification status in the Steamboat Springs Chamber’s Sustainable Business Program.

The Sustainable Business Certification requires that a business demonstrate a reduction in energy usage, a plan to reduce, recycle and reuse as much of their waste stream as is feasible, and to put in place water conservation practices. Additionally, a comprehensive analysis of policies, practices and purchasing habits is undertaken so that improvements can be identified.

“Perhaps the most notable achievement in ResortQuest’s sustainable business action plan is the program they have put in place for guests to recycle in the units”, said Lyn Halliday, President of Environmental Solutions Unltd LLC and the consultant on the project. “They have overcome many barriers that a large scale property management company faces when implementing an in-unit recycling initiative.”

This ski season, ResortQuest Steamboat is launching a Green Housekeeping and Recycling Program. Each of ResortQuest’s 300+ vacation rentals will have recycling receptacles which will be collected daily by a special Green Team. Paper, paperboard, plastics 1-7, glass, tin, and aluminum will all be stored and collected separately from non-recyclable trash in containers and recycling centers provided by the company.

• Guest recycling and trash is collected on a daily basis
• Towel and linen re-use program
• Post-departure thermostat temperature control
• Small appliances unplugged when not in use
• Eliminate daily newspaper delivery and transfer to guest request program
• ...more about Green Housekeeping and Recycling Program...

Other recent Green initiatives include:

• ResortQuest is trialling paper Green-Key electronic keys which are made of renewable resources and are recyclable.
• Vacation homes will now be stocked with Thymes Eucalyptus recyclable paper bottles for individual in-room shampoo, conditioner and lotion. They take the place of a multitude of small plastic bottles which generated a great deal of non-recyclable waste.
• ResortQuest is transitioning to Cascades North River recycled tissue paper products and walnut shell kitchen scrubbing sponges.
• Guest information on sustainable practices is included in the check-in packages.
• Guests are welcomed to their vacation home with a delectable gift of chocolate confectionary created by Yepello Chocolates & Confections, hand-made in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

We are especially proud to partner with Yepello Chocolates not only because their products are exquisite, but because they also employ sustainable business practices by using recycled and recyclable packaging, as well as soy-based colorings. Furthermore, Yepello chocolates use locally grown products, such as local lavender for their Lavender Vanilla truffles, and local honey for their Cashew Honey truffles.

Many of the standard sustainability practices such as reducing their carbon footprint by changing light bulbs to more energy efficient types, improving building efficiencies, purchasing green products, are also now in place at over 300 units managed by ResortQuest Steamboat.

"Our eco quest is something that will be ongoing and we hope to be one of the leaders in our industry in this regard”, said Peggy Rogers, the ResortQuest’s Property Manager at Trappeur’s Crossing Resort.

Over 50 businesses in the Yampa Valley have enrolled in the Chamber’s Sustainability Program, launched in 2007. For more information please visit http://www.steamboatchamber.com/

We are proud of our progress. However... We are also the first to admit that we have a long way to go. Green practices are evolving and improving, and we are endeavoring to evolve and improve with them.