Ski Area Citizens’ Coalition annual environmental report card gives Park City Mountain, Utah top marks

Enviromental Report Card84 ski resorts in the Western United States were evaluated and ranked last month by the Ski Area Citizens’ Coalition for its annual environmental report card, and it’s great to see so many well-known ski areas topping the list and continuing an ongoing commitment to sustainability.

In addition to information submitted by resorts, ranks were determined based on information compiled from various web sites and public documents pertaining to 35 criteria points across four categories, and evaluated based on ski areas’ environmental practices, including environmental policies and regulations, addressing climate change, habitat protection, and watershed protection.

However, here at The Refinishing Touch, we were surprised to find that a resort’s score was subject to a significant drop while undergoing expansions or renovations. As a company that specializes in sustainable furniture asset management solutions, we are well-versed in the workings of a successful environmentally-friendly development project. While everyone, from ski resorts to college campuses, must still pay careful attention to the land on which they choose to expand, they can begin to eradicate a move’s negative environmental impacts by implementing some of the countless sustainable options available today.

Through the utilization of The Refinishing Touch’s furniture refinishing services, our customers have been able to undergo major construction and renovation projects whilst simultaneously reducing their carbon emissions as much as 90%. Instead of buying new, organizations can refinish, refurbish, or reupholster existing furniture with non-toxic, low VOC lacquers – eliminating harmful landfill waste, carbon impact, and negative effects to surrounding air, trees, water and communities.

Although we were disappointed to see poor results from resorts such as the Arizona Snowbowl – that have reportedly begun making snow with 100% sewage effluent – the overall ski industry’s improvement in just a year’s time is encouraging. We hope these results will serve to inspire even more resorts in the years to come.

For more information on The Refinishing Touch and its services please visit the website at www.therefinishingtouch.com. For full ranking and results from the Ski Area Citizens’ Coalition, please click here.