Excalibur is dedicated to the preservation of our planet's precious resources through the adoption of environmentally sustainable practices. The following are a variety of ways in which Excalibur has implemented this dedication throughout the property and in its operation.
- Reduced electricity usage by 7 million kilowatt hours by replacing 38,000 incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs. That's enough electricity to power 326 average-sized homes for a year.
- Reused sheets and towels during stays when guests chose to participate in our energy-saving efforts, cutting water and power usage.
- Became the first chemical-free hotel operation in the country when a new water-based cleaning system was introduced. Guests, employees and the water system are no longer exposed to harsh cleaning chemicals and the potentially hazardous disposal of the packaging have been eliminated.
- Replaced the hot-water distribution system with energy-efficient technology and installed high-efficiency burners on the lead boiler, reducing our carbon emissions by 500 tons a year.
- Stopped putting telephone directories in guest rooms, eliminating tons of paper that had to be recycled every year and saving transportation, printing and labor costs.
- What do you do with 10 tons of garbage every day? Excalibur sorts it all and recycles a vast majority of it. Excalibur's unique recyclable sorting system will save approximately $150,000 in waste expense per year. And it will reduce the amount of trash we send to a landfill from 11 million pounds in 2008 to 2.2 million pounds in 2009.
- Saved hundreds of thousands of gallons of water just by changing the way we defrost Cornish game hens. Instead of running cold water over frozen birds to defrost them just before cooking, the birds are moved from the freezer to the refrigerator the day before. Same result using far less water.
- Our purchasing and the loading dock has consolidated vendors to reduce the number of trucks that have to deliver to Excalibur and changed hours to encourage fewer trips per vendor, reducing transportation energy and emissions.
- All our job applications, and most hiring-related communications, are now done online to eliminate paper use.
- An electronic newsletter featuring sustainability tips for the home is distributed monthly to employees.
|
