This year, the Leadership Summit planning team worked together with Sustainability Director Kate Wilson, Keystone Environmental Manager Brad Stewart and the Keystone Conference Center staff to reduce the amount of waste produced throughout the three-day conference. Together, we achieved our goal of producing less than 500 pounds of waste directed to landfill - which amounted to diverting nearly 50% of all waste produced at the event from the landfill!
Here’s how we did it:
- CU student partners worked with Brad Stewart to measure the trash throughout the event. After noticing the majority of waste was coming from paper towels, attendees modified their behavior to use hand dryers instead of paper towels in the restrooms and we saw a dramatic decrease in waste!
- Using reusable materials where they haven't been used in the past.
- Recycling non-standard materials (food prep gloves, plastic wrap, etc.).
- Continuing the well-established operations to divert typical recycling (cans, cardboard, glass, plastics) and food scraps for composting.
Another highlight? Leadership Summit attendees had the opportunity to participate in a board-breaking exercise. Keystone was able to turn the discarded boards into woodchips!
Want tips on how to make your next event low-waste? Email BroomfieldZero@vailresorts.com.