Hail, Caesars! Casinos Go Green
ECOVORE: http://www.theurbn.com/category/feature/ecovore-feature/
Urbane Renewal: Chapter 1
Caesars Palace, where CodeGreen is in effect (courtesy image)
I come to Caesars Palace to see Absinthe, a stunning new show inspired by the green anise-and-herb-flavored spirit long banned for its reputed hallucinogenic effects. The erotic acrobatic spectacle, presented under an outdoor tent, befits a 85-acre Vegas Strip resort-casino aglow with enough opulence to rouse Roman emperors from their tombs.
The Skating Aratas of Absinthe (photo by Tom Donoghue)
“Spectacle” and “sustainability” make odd bedfellows, so you might bet that Absinthe and flashed cash were the only things green at Caesars Palace. But the property, and its owner Caesars Entertainment, are industry leaders in sustainability.
In the last 7 years, Caesars Entertainment (CE) has invested $62 million in energy reduction and conservation, encompassing 110 green initiatives at its properties. The gaming and hospitality titan has organized its green business, employee and community engagement goals as the “CodeGreen” element of its Code of Commitment corporate responsibility program. “The objective: small actions incrementally making large impacts,” Director of Corporate Sustainability, Gwen Migita, told me last week.
Given Caesars Palace’s 5 million square feet of enclosed space, measures such as efficient exterior lighting, drought-resistant landscaping and power-management cycling devices “reduce our energy costs by hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Migita.
Colosseum theater at Caesars Palace (courtesy image)
Instead of a top-down approach, the company has nurtured grass-roots action, using incentives to inspire employee innovation. One effort involved cycling down nonessential computer equipment at night, saving an estimated $350,000 annually. More important than dollars, stressed Migita, is engagement of employees and community.
Employees at Bally’s, another Caesars property, developed an on-site water filtration and bottling system using recycled and reusable glass bottles. Within months, this eco-friendly mineral water alternative outsold those ubiquitous plastic bottles. Now other Caesars resort-casinos are selling Bally’s Aqua Health water. This practice reduces the volume of glass water bottles that go to recycling as well as shipping (and its attendant carbon emissions) of bottled water.
The corporation also offers employee incentives for at-home energy efficiency measures. Other CE initiatives include:
Green meetings certification. Some 200 employees have been certified so far, with plans to more than double that number in 2012.
Water conservation. A retrofit of Caesars Palace water fixtures three years ago has saved 30 million gallons a year. A redesigned facility handling laundry from 8 resorts has reduced water consumption by 30% while expanding its capacity by 40%.
Las Vegas lights, image courtesy of Las Vegas News Bureau
Energy conservation. Lighting is part of the Strip’s splendor, but the company has managed to cut light usage by 50 million kilowatt hours and costs by about $20 million a year primarily by a move to LED lighting. “The most recent lighting project involved switching out 55,000 bulbs in high-energy use areas,” Migita said. A “quiet” lighting swap was made at Harrah’s dealer tables: “there were no complaints; all tested positive.” The payback is expected to come within two weeks; the longest lighting retrofit payback has been 6 months. Pretty motivating.
Toiletry recycling. Caesars properties are partners in Clean the World. Used soap, shampoo and other toiletries are sent to a plant, where the leftovers are steam-sanitized in an eco-safe process, tested for pathogens and packaged. In 2009, CTW distributed 230 tons of recycled items to 40 countries, working with global responder programs, including Haiti earthquake relief efforts.
Clean the World recycles hotel toiletries
Dock-side recycling. “We literally go through every bag of trash and separate items,” said Migita. The waste diversion rate for Caesars’ Vegas properties in the third quarter 2011 was 32%, compared to an 18% average at other area resort-casinos.
Education. Caesars is a key player in Green Chips, a public/private partnership that encourages Southern Nevada residents and businesses take concrete steps to reduce environmental impacts and help the region build an identity as a sustainable destination. Strategies include business retrofit assistance and low-interest loans for citizens who want to weatherize their homes. Migita now serves as president of Green Chips.
Philanthropy. Initiatives include bringing at-risk children to national parks as part of the Bison Buddy program and re-purposing office and convention supplies for county school teachers and students.
“We look at this as a virtuous cycle,” said Migita. It’s good for the environment, employees, the community as well as customer satisfaction and the bottom line.
Caesars sets the stakes high for casino companies. It was the first to join the Environment Protection Agency’s Climate Leaders industry-government partnership committed to measurable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and recently joined the United Nations Foundation’s Global Sustainability Tourism Council. Accolades include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency WasteWise Gold Achievement as well as Environmental Quality awards, Travelife Gold awards for green/sustainable tourism, a Golden Pinecone Environmental Business award and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver award for its Caesars Palace conference center expansion.
Winning isn’t everything – but in the land of casinos, green measures can add up to a new kind of jackpot.
Next in the Urbane Renewal series: A Gamer’s Eco-Friendly Playground
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