“We want to be conscious consumers. We want to be part of a culture for sustainability, so we have to walk the talk.”
Holland America Princess, the parent company of both Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge and the McKinley Chalet Resort has made some of the largest investments to sustainability in the local tourism industry. They are consistently seeking and implementing new methods, which have produced significant results for the landfills and the company.
Cardboard is baled and transported for recycling.
Actions for Laundry
- Elimination of traditional laundry operations; now using Ozone to wash
- Ozone uses cold water, removes stains and sanitizes effectively
- In addition, it opens fabric weaves to decrease drying time
Actions for Guest Rooms
- EcoLab brand is used for refillable/reusable cartridges where needed
- Gel/shampoo/conditioner in dispensers
- There are no garbage can liners
- HOOP Program (Housekeeping Opt Out Program)
Actions for Employees
- Employee training on reduce/reuse/recycle programs and the Zero Landfill Initiative
- Management are given reusable coffee mugs to use all season
- All employees receive reusable water bottles at the beginning of the season
- Bulk dispensers in employee dining room (such as milk & condiments)
- Employees challenged to go straw free for the summer
Cans for recycling in the employee areas
Actions for General Operations
- Gift shops only provide bags on request
- Reusable shopping bags sold in stores
- Water bottle refill stations in lobbies and employee housing
- LED lights across property
- Light motion sensors in closets/back of house rooms
- Recycle lightbulbs
- Recycle batteries
- Recycle Ewaste
- Grounds keeping carts have solar panel for spray systems
- All company carts converted to gel battery system from water/acid batteries
- Collect copper and brass to recycle
- Vent systems for aerosols with a filter before disposing of can
- Cardboard property wide is baled for recycling
Actions for Restaurant Operations
Used cooking oil is filtered for use in maintenance shop heating systems.
- Earthcube composter for food scraps
- Bulk dispensers in back of house for condiments/jams/etc
- Straws given on request only
- Used cooking oil used for heaters in maintenance shop
- Installing dishwashers/reusable flatware in previous fast service venues
- Transitioning to compostable disposables where one use items are still needed
Actions for Reuse
- At the end of season, unused food is distributed to the local community
- When linens, furniture, kitchen equipment, etc are no longer needed, it is given away to those in need
Actions to Work Toward
Recycle More: increasing the scope of items on the “what we collect” list
Reduce Waste: We have invested in a hybrid laundry truck, used kitchen oil heaters (burns essentially used fryer oil to keep the maintenance shop warm all winter), liquid food composter for the King Salmon kitchen, experimenting with traditional composting with food waste from employee dining, LED bulb conversion plans and more
Continuing to Highlight Current Successes: sharing what we are doing with our guests and employees and encouraging them to refuse single use plastics and bring their own bag, bottle, and mug.
