Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Spa Resort & Conference Centre in Parksville, British Columbia, has been recognized on the national stage from the Hotel Association of Canada, becoming one of only 84 hotels in British Columbia to receive the prestigious “4 Green Key” Rating.

A “4 Green Key” rating is awarded to a hotel that has shown national industry leadership and commitment to protecting the environment through wide ranging policies and practices. The Hotel has mature programs in place that involve management, employees, guests, and the public, and which have shown substantial and measurable results.

In the last 2 years, Tigh-Na-Mara has made dramatic changes in the way it conducts business- specifically ensuring all purchasing considerations, construction plans and community action plans have environmental sustainability as part of the decision process.

“Tigh-Na-Mara’s mission vision and value statements all incorporate a commitment to create exceptional guest experiences while supporting our community through sustainable practices.” says Paul Drummond, Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Spa Resort General Manager. “We are very proud to be recognized as the only 4 Green Key Certified Property in Oceanside.”
The Resort is fully committed to greening both our business and our guest experiences, while not compromising the service our guests have come to know and expect from Tigh-Na-Mara.

A Few Examples of our Green Changes:

• Complete overhaul of kitchen dishwashing equipment to biodegradable cleaning products
• Complete switch to environmentally friendly cleaning products used by our housekeeping team
• Complete switch of laundry cleaning products to environmentally friendly, biodegradable products
• More than 70% of all collateral produced is printed on recycled paper. Several pieces were also printed using biodegradable inks.
• Cooking oil is recycled
• Kitchen waste is 80% composted

Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Spa Resort is an all-season destination Resort offering accommodations, an award winning full service spa and three unique West Coast inspired restaurants. Tigh-Na-Mara’s Grotto Spa is the #1 spa in B.C., offering signature treatments with a focus on natural ingredients.

For more information on Tigh-Na-Mara visit tourismvictoria.com or go to www.tigh-na-mara.com

One of Victoria’s newest hotels, The Oswego Hotel is unique in its design offering an eclectic mix of West Coast and contemporary design.

The Oswego Hotel practices the following environmentally sustainable procedures:

Composting
Herb Garden for Restaurant use
Recycling all cans, bottles and paper
Paperless registration with sign in pads
Email all gust confirmation, reduction and almost elimination of printing
Ceiling fans in guestrooms vs high energy air conditioning
Energy and Water conservation in rooms and throughout hotel – special lighting – LED bulbs; water conservation signs in rooms
2 yr old building with new building codes/infrastructure
Green meetings – no paper cups, limited paper products, rather than pop cans we offer fruit-infused water.
Complimentary Health Club for all guests
Employees are given a $100 reimbursement for healthy activities, i.e. health club membership
Bicycle racks – encourage employee use to bike to work
For Fall – ‘reducing carbon footprint meetings’ and offering reduced meeting rental for biking to meeting or taking bus as opposed to driving

To book at the Oswego Hotel go to www.tourismvictoria.com

Victoria, has been chosen as the testing grounds for the first hybrid double decker bus in North America. A continuation of the Victoria’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gases, providing accessible transit options and sustainable living, the hybrid double decker bus is a unique way to travel throughout the downtown core. The hybrid bus seats 77 passengers, has a smaller nine litre engine and uses electric cells to power the bus during start up mode, leading to considerable fuel savings. In Victoria, alternative transportation options such as walking, biking and public transit are used by a significant portion of residents and visitors, reinforcing Victoria’s title as “Canada’s Fittest City” (Statistics Canada 2006). With the mildest climate in the country, Victoria’s natural beauty inspires people to get out and enjoy their surroundings, making healthy, car-free vacations easy and enjoyable. For more information visit www.bctransit.com.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a decision making process using a combination of pest management techniques to suppress pest populations in effective, environmentally sound ways. Cultural, mechanical, biological and chemical controls are all used to help manage pest problems both preventatively and through intervention when necessary. IPM also involves creating healthier plants through better growing practices and monitoring those plants regularly for problems so the problems can be correctly identified and dealt with in a timely manner.
The Butchart Gardens have had an IPM program in place in the production greenhouses for over 15 years and have been actively implementing this program for the past 7 years in their outdoor garden areas. One of our main goals has been to improve soil management program and this has been achieved by regular soil testing, amending of soils and using more specific fertilization throughout the gardens to try and obtain optimal growing conditions. The majority of the fertilizers used in the garden is either fully organic or organic based and The Butchart Gardens goal is to be completely organic. They have spent a lot of time properly spacing plants to allow sufficient airflow and light, and have removed plants with a history of being pest or problem plagued. Improvements to water quality are currently being analyzed to see where adjustments can be made to benefit plant health. These cultural practices along with the introduction of more biological controls have helped to dramatically reduce The Butchart Gardens dependency on chemical pesticides.

Biological Control uses natural enemies to control pests and diseases. Some examples are:

• Aphid control achieved by releasing aphid eating ladybugs
• Fungal control by spraying with a fungus that attacks the pest fungus
• Applying Neem oil extracted from the seeds of the Indian Neem tree; this helps to control high numbers of pest species before we release natural predators
• Releasing predatory mites to control pests such as spider mite, thrips and whitefly

A typical year of pest management involves winter and early spring applications of Dormant Oil/Lime Sulphur to smother egg masses and prevent fungal diseases from taking hold. A natural bacterium called BtK is used to specifically control leaf eating caterpillars. Slugs are now dealt with using an iron based product that is safe to all other living creatures and is a beneficial amendment to the soil. Preventative releases of predatory bugs are carried out as required throughout the spring and summer in areas of early pest activity. The majority of the predatory bugs that are released are naturally occurring in the surrounding area and what The Butchart Gardens are doing is simply increasing the population to balance the needs in their garden. If weather conditions are favourable for disease outbreaks, they monitor and apply control measures only as necessary. One of the new programs that is currently under evaluation is the benefit of compost tea, which is being tested in three specific garden areas.

Within the gardens proper, all weed control is done manually without the use of herbicides. In  parking areas and roadways The Butchart Gardens have experimented with the use of steam and other mechanical methods as alternatives to using herbicides. This is an ongoing program they continue to work on to try and find a viable solution.

The Butchart Gardens goal is to create the healthiest environment for their plants, their staff and for their millions of visitors. They continue to strive to eliminate any unnecessary use of chemical pesticides by not using any products that may negatively effect anything other than the intended pest or disease.

For more information visit www.butchartgardens.com or to see all The Butchart Gardens Environmental Initiatives click here

Tourism Victoria is now accepting nomination for the 2009 Environment Awards.

These awards recognize the efforts to preserve the environment for the benefit of residents and visitors alike, and for seeing the future through the eyes of tomorrow’s children. Tourism Victoria presents three Environment Awards each year at the organization’s Annual General Meeting. The awards are presented in three categories:

Individual – The Environment Award – Individual recognizes a Greater Victoria resident for their outstanding effort in developing and leading environmental practices.

Corporate – The Environment Award – Corporate recognizes a business in the Greater Victoria community for their outstanding effort in developing and leading environmental practices.

Organization – The Environment Award – Organization recognizes a society, non-profit or association in the Greater Victoria community for their outstanding effort in development and leading environmental practices.

If you’re interested in nominating an individual, company, or organization please click here to complete a nomination form.

Nominations are due by March 26, 2010