Actively Green
(Bronze)
Actively Green is a sustainability training and certification program for all businesses, including the tourism industry. Actively Green provides a framework of sustainable business criteria and performance indicators that support any business in elevating performance with the use of best management practices specific to sustainability principles.
Colorado Green Business Network
(Gold)
The Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) is a statewide program that has been recognizing and awarding organizations in Colorado that go beyond compliance with environmental regulations by advancing sustainability in Colorado, for the past 23 years. The program sought to aid organizations in Colorado in increasing the efficiency and sustainability of their operation by assessing opportunities for growth, recognizing success, and providing connections to like-minded businesses throughout the State.
Vail Public Library (VPL) is committed to the sustainability of the Eagle Valley and the surrounding mountain environment. The library values the ecological, economic, and cultural health of the community and the valley. Therefore, it strives to engage participants, visitors, and employees to participate in local cultural and educational opportunities that enrich the community’s sense of well-being.
Vail Public Library earned its Sustainable Resort Certification in 2015 and continues to maintain and implement its commitment to sustainability.
VPL’s SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES
- Staff PCs are shut down daily. Public internet stations are shut down nightly and are restarted daily just prior to opening.
- Recycle containers (blue for paper; green-topped for comingles) are available throughout the building.
- Light switches in the staff offices have motion sensors that turn off/time out in areas where staff is not working.
- The library provides biodegradable bags for patron use rather than bags which cannot be recycled.
- The library has low-flow toilets throughout the building.
- Staff is encouraged to carpool, bike, and use public transportation to reduce commuting mileage, via incentives and planning facilitation. Commuting mileage is tracked and recorded monthly.
- Plastic bags used by patrons when returning items to the library are recycled.
- Items in the Children’s Room are cleaned and disinfected daily using the “Hygeia” system: a disinfecting spray which converts tap water oxygen (O2) to highly oxygenated oxygen (O3) water, that reduces 99.9% of common pathogens. Dirt, germs and odors are removed without the use or cost of harmful chemicals.
- The building is equipped with a Synexis BioDefense System, which offers additional protection to people and materials by reducing microbial contaminants found in viruses, bacteria and mold.
