Earth Day 2017
Posted by Grouse Mountain April 22, 2017
Happy Earth Day! Today we celebrate our beautiful planet Earth.
It's a great day to get out and acknowledge the beauty of nature as well as think about what actions we can take in our everyday lives to conserve that beauty.
At Grouse Mountain, we are working towards reducing our own environmental footprint. While it's an ongoing journey, here are some of the steps we're taking to operate more sustainably and help conserve our natural environment:
- Grouse Mountain is serviced by two public transit routes with regular service running to and from the base every half hour.
- We run a complimentary shuttle from Downtown Vancouver during the summer and along Nancy Greene Way during busy periods in the winter.
- We installed a Leviton electric vehicle charging station in 2013 that electric car users with a ChargePass can access.
- We offer designated parking spots for the majority of the region’s major car-sharing options (Zipcar, EVO and Modo).
- For bike enthusiasts (fit enough to make the trek up Nancy Greene Way!), we also provide bike racks located at the base.
- The Skyride offers low impact transportation to the mountaintop and has eliminated over 25 million drives to the top of the Mountain plus it can actually supply power back to the grid on trips when the downhill car is heavier than the uphill car!
- The Observatory and Altitudes Bistro are members of the Green Table Network, a group committed to responsible restaurant practices, as well as Ocean Wise, the Vancouver Aquarium's conservation program.
- We work with local growers and suppliers to shorten the distance in our product sourcing and provide fresher seasonal offerings in our restaurants.
- We source some ingredients from our very own gardens on the Mountain and are planning to expand our growing program.
- Our Bee Hive Program launched in 2015 and is working to grow and strengthen bee colonies and to responsibly harvest honey to use within our food and beverage operation.
- Over 15,000 school children participate in Grouse Mountain’s Adventures in Education Programs every year. Through these programs we aim to create awareness amongst today’s youth about their environment, surrounding wildlife and the many things they can do to sustain and support both.
- The Pollinators Garden was started to showcase regional varietals that are important in supplying a source of pollen to both our bees and a broad range of wild pollinators.
- We have participated in the North American Hummingbird Banding Program for over 10 years and our collected data is compiled with data from other stations for research on hummingbird populations and migration in Western North America.
