New Biosphere Committed Member - August

We are pleased to welcome Manteo at Eldorado Resort to the Biosphere Commitment Program!

Manteo at Eldorado Resort features 102 guest rooms, suites & villas on the shores of Okanagan Lake. At Manteo, they believe it is their duty to set the precedent for sustainability practices through their leadership in the tourism industry.

The team is constantly seeking new ways to enrich the local community by creating a safe and healthy environment for all, with an emphasis on diversity and equality. Manteo is proud to take part in environmental initiatives such as Adopt-A-Stream, Neighbourhood Clean-Ups, Bike to Work Week, and the eradication of invasive species, replacing them with native plants.

Giving back and fostering a strong sense of community is extremely important to Manteo. They focus on farm-to-table dining, partnering with local vendors and organizations, as well as raising funds for local charities.

Learn more about Manteo at Eldorado Resort.

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The Ripple Effect

A recent episode of the podcast How to Save a Planet explored whether individual actions matter at all or whether big, systemic changes and policies are the only thing keeping Earth from burning up. While we recommend listening to the entire episode, there are a few points worth highlighting, especially if you’re still trying to wrap your head around the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.

The climate crisis really hinges on a few key sectors, including energy, food and agriculture, transportation, and manufacturing and industry. One eliminated plastic bag or one less car ride might not make a dent but cumulatively, the ripple effect of these actions have the capacity to build a wave.

The Ripple Effect

In 2018, Greta Thunberg started sitting outside the Swedish Parliament during her school days, trying to get government officials to recognize and take meaningful action on the climate crisis. One by one, other students started to join her and before too long, she was a leading voice in the climate movement.

Greta Thunberg addressed the 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference and spoke at the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit. Many have heard about her and her commitment to push for real, systemic change. While Thunberg has her fair share of critics, dozens of world leaders have praised her efforts and support her work. What matters most is the fact that she is an individual who inspired a few other individuals who each inspired other individuals in turn. Thunberg represents a single drop in an ocean, who created ripples which have gone on to create waves.

It’s not individual actions that matter, necessarily, but collective action does. When enough people are able to encourage others to change their behaviour in some way and take action, then a groundswell of individuals can make a real and measurable difference.

Take Action

The ripple effect is real and it matters. What is most important to realize about the ripple effect is that action is required. The IPCC report is not only a reminder of the dire situation we find ourselves in but also an invitation to remember that small actions taken by individuals and within companies matter — but only if real action exists and is visible and shared with others.

Key Actions Tourism Stakeholders Can Take To Create A Ripple:

• Model responsible travel behaviour: People look toward you for insight on how to act and behave when they travel. Model the behaviour you want others to adopt.

• Share your climate action with others: Let others know what you’re doing to mitigate your carbon footprint.

• Normalize talking about the climate crisis: We should not normalize the climate crisis but we must normalize talking about it. On tours, in destinations, and during travel experiences, we can not just brush off extreme weather as an “unseasonably hot summer”.

• Move beyond your climate pledge: If you’ve declared a climate emergency, it’s time to put real science-backed measurements in place and take action to cut carbon emissions from your operations and supply chains.

• Embrace radical transparency: Get real about any greenwashing you’ve been holding on to, do the hard work, and be radically transparent about your climate action with the general public. What are you committed to doing? By when and by how much? Put your goals out into the world and publicly track your commitments.

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Research Reveals 'Pandemic Effect' Could Tip Sustainable Travel Into Impactful Action

New research from Booking.com, containing insights gathered from more than 29,000 respondents across 30 countries, suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be a tipping point for global travelers to commit to sustainable travel. In fact, 72% of travelers surveyed indicated that they believe people have to act now to save the planet for future generations.

Key findings:

• 83% of global travelers think sustainable travel is vital, with 61% saying the pandemic has made them want to travel more sustainably in the future.

• Almost half (49%) still believe that in 2021, there aren’t enough sustainable travel options available, with 53% admitting they get annoyed if somewhere they are staying stops them from being sustainable, for example by not providing recycling facilities.

• 69% will go as far as avoiding popular destinations and attractions to ensure they aren’t contributing to overcrowding challenges and helping do their part to disperse the positive benefits of travel to less frequently visited destinations and communities.

• While 3 out of 4 accommodation providers say they have implemented at least some kind of sustainability practices at their property, only one-third actively communicate about their efforts proactively to potential guests.

To help boost the visibility of more sustainable stay options, Booking.com is now showing third-party sustainability certifications and details on a range of 30+ impactful practices in place at hundreds of thousands of properties around the world.

Accommodation operators can update their sustainability information on Booking.com, which includes 32 impactful practices across five key categories (waste, energy and greenhouse gases, water, supporting local communities and protecting nature), and can be viewed on the ‘Sustainability Initiatives’ banner on each property page.

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FortisBC Rebates Available for Thompson Okanagan Tourism Businesses

Are you planning to purchase or upgrade lighting, HVAC equipment (boilers, furnaces, heaters, heat pumps, rooftop units, etc), or other business appliances? Have you purchased or installed any of these within the last 365 days? You might be eligible for FortisBC rebates if you are a FortisBC electricity or natural gas customer and meet their requirements for energy-efficient equipment.

Some of the FortisBC rebates that are available:  

• Commercial lighting rebates

• Natural gas boiler rebates

• Heat pump and electric water heater rebates

• Kitchen and laundry equipment rebates

If you are a tourism business operating in the Thompson Okanagan and would like to find out if you are eligible, book a free appointment with our Energy Analyst to learn more.

Municipalities Empowered to Ban Single-Use Plastics

Municipalities throughout the province can now move more quickly to prevent plastics from polluting their communities.

Under new rules, local governments can institute bans on plastic bags and certain single-use plastics without provincial approval.

The Province has amended a regulation under the Community Charter to allow local governments to ban single-use plastics, including plastic checkout bags, polystyrene foam containers and plastic utensils, which includes stir sticks. Previously, municipalities required ministerial approval to implement a plastics ban.

More than 20 municipalities in B.C. are developing bylaws banning single-use plastics. Under the previous regulation, bylaws were approved for the municipalities of Esquimalt, Nanaimo, Richmond, Rossland, Saanich, Surrey, Tofino, Ucluelet and Victoria.

This change is one part of the CleanBC Plastics Action Plan. The Province is also expanding the number of products to be recycled through residential recycling programs by adding milk and milk-alternative containers to the deposit-refund system effective February 2022, and more single-use items to the packaging part of the Recycling Regulation effective January 2023. It is also piloting new projects to use reclaimed plastic waste in new manufacturing through the CleanBC Plastics Action Fund.

Since last year, more than 127 tonnes of plastic have been removed from B.C.’s coastline under the Clean Coast, Clean Waters initiative. It is estimated that in 2019, more than 340,000 tonnes of plastic items and packaging were disposed of in British Columbia. This equates to more than 65 kilograms of plastic waste landfilled per person in one year.

Eco Efficiency Toolkit

Did you know that an Eco Efficiency Toolkit was created for Biosphere Committed Companies to use as an additional resource? The toolkit is divided into four key areas: water, energy, waste and carbon and provides helpful tips and low and no-cost solutions for companies of all sizes. To access the Eco Efficiency Toolkit and you are not currently a Biosphere Committed Member, join the Biosphere Commitment Program now.

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This summer, we have experienced quite the heat wave and drought is currently impacting approximately half of BC, with extremely dry or very dry conditions throughout the Thompson Okanagan.

Here are some helpful tips from our Eco Efficiency Toolkit to help you reduce water usage:

1. Establish your water usage baseline

2. Consider using grey water management systems or harvest rainwater

3. Install low-flow fixtures

4. Track your water consumption, by installing a water meter or using the free Energy Star Portfolio Manager program

5. Check for leaks and drips in your water systems

6. Xeriscape with native drought-resistant plants

7. Use mulch at the base of plants to reduce evaporation from soil

8. Reuse water for gardens and plants

9. Ensure your irrigation system uses water efficiently and use low flow garden hose nozzles

10. Adopt water-efficient cleaning procedures