By Tina Escobedo
The high standard of environmental performance practiced by The Westin Resort & Casino, Aruba has been recognized by EarthCheck; the world’s leading certifier of travel and tourism organizations.
The Westin Resort & Casino, Aruba has joined industry leaders from more than 65 countries by being awarded EarthCheck Silver Certified status. To gain this, they have had to report their environmental footprint to independent auditors and adhere to internationally recognized standard of Best Practice.
“We are proud to be a part of an elite group of properties that have been able to receive EarthCheck’s Silver Certified status.” Richard Roy, General Manager of The Westin Resort & Casino, Aruba
During the process, The Westin Resort & Casino, Aruba was also required to submit a year’s worth of operational data which was bench marked against industry Best Practice. The data was then measured against a number of key indicators such as energy and water consumption, total waste production, and community commitment.
“By taking a scientific approach to measuring the effectiveness of their sustainability practices, The Westin Resort & Casino, Aruba was able to identify where they were out-performing others and where room for improvement remained,” explained EarthCheck CEO Stewart Moore.
“Achieving certification is not an easy task and many organizations do not make it past the benchmarking stage. Securing a highly-ranked benchmarking result requires a strong commitment across all levels of an organization and the imbedding of sustainability principles into all policies and procedures,” Moore concluded.
For economies reliant on travel and tourism, EarthCheck’s benchmarking data provides the only historical record of the global environmental impacts of the industry over the past 12 years. More importantly, it rates the effectiveness of industry efforts to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHG) and conserve natural resources at a project-by-project level.
For travellers the world over, it’s good to know there’s a credible body keeping track of sustainability claims. The EarthCheck logo represents the travel and tourism’s efforts to come together and take meaningful steps to address the serious challenges faced by the planet.
EarthCheck is one of the world’s largest certifiers of sustainable travel and tourism operators; with more than 1,200 clients in over 65 countries. EarthCheck certification complies with the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Greenhouse Gas Protocol, and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14064 range of standards for greenhouse gas accounting.
