Keystone’s Epic Promise

Earlier this year Keystone joined the larger Vail Resorts family in making a promise to reduce our environmental impact and up sustainability. Although some changes such as eliminating one time use plastic cups may seem trivial, they add the the larger goal which Epic Epic Promise looks to achieve. By eliminating one time use plastic cups, we’ve saved 162, 635 cups from ending up in landfills!

In an effort to promote reusable water receptacles, we’ll be giving out 200 free Keystone Water Bladders on Saturday February 13th. Look for the Keystone tent atop of Dercum Mountain near the Summit House!

Here are some further environmental contributions & goals that Keystone looks to achieve!

• • For Fiscal Year 2014 (August 2013-July 2014) Keystone recycled approximately 1.9 million pounds of materials!
  • In Fiscal Year 2014 we collected approximately 335,000 pounds of organic waste, 330,000 pounds in Fiscal Year 2013, 290,000 pounds in Fiscal Year 2012, and 234,000 pounds in Fiscal Year 2011! That is a total of 696 tons since Keystone’s compost program’s inception. Diverting this much food waste from the landfill has the equivalent environmental benefit of 30,179 tree seedlings grown for 10 years or removing 248 passenger vehicles from the road for one year.
  • Keystone is currently diverting approximately 48% of waste from the landfill, so nearly half of the solid waste we produce is either recycled or composted.  Meanwhile, the national average is 34%, according to the EPA.
  • Over 2500 lbs of old Christmas trees was collected and composted in 2014.
  • 9000 lbs of used ski equipment was collected and recycled by our SSV stores.
  • Keystone has replaced approximately 2,538 incandescent/CFL lights with LED lighting at both on-mountain and hospitality locations.
  • Keystone has a natural cork collection program that recycles natural corks from all the wine bottles we collect—the corks get turned into shoe soles sold locally and the proceeds go to reforestation of cork trees in Portugal, the largest producer of natural cork.
  • Each mountain monitors energy usage across several of our greatest energy consuming departments (snowmaking, lift operations, F&B).  Our goal is to reach approximately 20% energy reduction by 2015 with two energy conservation initiatives—“Target 10%” started in 2008 and we reached it by 2010, “The Next 10%” then began and we are currently approximately 6% toward the goal .
  • For Fiscal Year 2014 Keystone recycled 97,829 pounds of scrap metal through Rocky Mountain Recycling.
  • 17,040 pounds of used cooking oil was collected and recycled from Keystone’s F&B outlets, which resulted in directly reducing 30,765 pounds of CO2 and pollutants from the air we breathe.
  • Keystone collects latex paint to be recycled by Green Sheen, based in Denver, who then makes it into a new paint product and sells it. In Fiscal Year 2014, Green Sheen picked up 2581 pounds of latex paints and stains from Keystone to be recycled and resold.
  • Each year, in partnership with the USFS, Keystone plants approximately 600-1500 trees to help maintain a healthy forest. The new trees replace dead, dying, or diseased trees.