green issues

Fairmont Hotels Get Windy at Check-In

The Fairmont Hotels and Resorts have found a new way to go green. They have announced that the computers at the check-in desk will now be powered by the wind. The luxury hotel chain has bought Eco-Logo certified wind power for 249 check-in computers. The new initiative is part of Fairmont's Green Partnership program which is focused on energy issues and sustainable energy technology. The Fairmont has long been a supporter of green power. Since 1999, The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise has been purchasing green power through an agreement with the Canadian Eco-Logo certified Canadian Hydro Developers. At that hotel 40 percent of the property's electricity needs are met by a blend of wind and run-of-river electricity generation. The Fairmont has agreed to purchase a total of 116 megawatt hours of wind power through the Pembina Institute, a non-profit environmental organization.

[via Breaking Travel News]

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Tags: ecologically friendly, fairmont hotels, FairmontHotels, green issues, green power

The No Dirty Gold Campaign

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Jewelry

We've spent plenty of time talking about conflict gems but what about what they are set in? The No Dirty Gold campaign seeks to educate consumers on what gold mining entails and to compel mining corporations to make sure that gold is produced in more socially and environmentally responsible ways. Now eight retailers Zale Corp., the Signet Group (the parent firm of Sterling and Kay Jewelers), Tiffany & Co., Helzberg Diamonds, Fortunoff, Cartier, Piaget, and Van Cleef & Arpels put an ad in yesterday's New York Times saying that they will work with Oxfam America and EarthWorks to end "dirty gold." The average gold ring, which weighs in at 1/3 of an ounce generates 20 tons of waste and gold mining contributes to air, water and soil pollution and human rights violations.

[via Treehugger]

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Tags: dirty gold, ecology, gold, green issues, human rights, oxfam