For visitors to the greater Chicago area and the locals who’ve endured a long winter, a big three-season draw is the Lake Michigan waterfront.  Among the popular waterfront pastimes are the various Chicago River and Lake Michigan boat cruises that provide passengers with views of the Chicago skyline, architectural tours, dinner cruises, and on-board wedding and special event celebrations.  

To help protect and preserve the Lake Michigan resource, the environmentally-focused passenger will consider a cruiseline’s attention to environmental responsibilities and fuel conservation when booking their tour.  CarbonFree^® Partner Chicago’s First Lady Cruises and Mercury, Chicago’s Skyline Cruiseline will stand out as a leader in this area. 

As part of their extensive sustainability initiatives, Chicago’s First Lady Cruises and Mercury, Chicago’s Skyline Cruiseline has partnered with Carbonfund.org to measure and neutralize their annual carbon dioxide emissions.   Office energy usage, business travel and employee commuting emissions, as well as all fuel used by the cruise ships throughout 2012, were included in the emissions calculations.  The resulting total annual operational emissions were mitigated by corresponding donations to support Carbonfund.org’s renewable energy and reforestation projects. 

The CarbonFree^® Business Program status joins many other environmentally conscious initiatives followed by the Chicago-based cruiseline company.  Since 2006, all vessels have used B-11 biodiesel fuel, saving more than 4,000 gallons of imported crude oil per year.  Their newest vessel, Chicago’s Leading Lady, added to the fleet in 2011, is equipped with computerized energy-efficient engines that help the boat save over 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel each year. 

Chicago’s First Lady Cruises encourages their passengers to join an active office and operations recycling program by recycling their onboard maps for future guests. Dockside waste bins are constructed of recycled plastic milk containers, and beverage cans and bottles are collected onboard and dockside for recycling.   Promotional materials are printed by CarbonFree^® Partner Digital Hub, voted Chicago’s Greenest Printer, with soy-based inks and recycled papers. All employees are encouraged to ride their bike, walk or commute to work by using public transit, and Mercury, Chicago’s Skyline Cruisline encourages its staff to participate in the employee public transit reimbursement program.  

This focus on measures to protect the waterways its passengers enjoy demonstrates a firm commitment to environmental stewardship by Chicago’s First Lady Cruises and Mercury, Chicago’s Skyline Cruiseline, and Carbonfund.org is glad to participate in these efforts.  

It’s spring – time to get outdoors and enjoy all the beauty and adventure that nature offers.  For the past ten years, Central Coast Outdoors has arranged kayaking, biking and hiking tours in the California Central Coast region, and for the last five of those ten years, Central Coast Outdoors has neutralized its own operational emissions as a CarbonFree® Business Partner.   

"Our company goal was to lower our emissions and impacts as much as we could and use carbon offsets and other mitigation measures to address the impacts that remained,” explained John Flaherty, co-owner of Central Coast Outdoors with his wife, Virginia.  “We feel Carbonfund.org works hard to offset and repair environmental damage for organizations that advocate for a sustainable future."

Central Coast Outdoors has taken many additional steps to be an environmentally responsible tour company.  They use highly fuel efficient hybrid vehicles for their tour transportation, installed solar electric panels on their office, use refillable water bottles and purchase produce and menu items from local farmers markets for tour meals.  These efforts coupled with their ongoing commitment to maintaining a CarbonFree® business underscore Central Coast Outdoors’ dedication to being a truly sustainable tour operations company.   

Get out there this spring – enjoy the outdoors, but be sure to choose tour operators that are truly dedicated to environmental responsibility like Central Coast Outdoors to plan your next adventure. 

2013 marks the sixth consecutive year that Flavorus, one of the world’s largest event tickets distributor, has maintained a CarbonFree® Business environment.  With global awareness of the environment at critical mass, Flavorus changed every aspect of its operations to give the Earth its due TLC.  First, they cleaned up their own house: reducing waste, implementing aggressive recycling efforts, replacing incandescent lighting, and a host of other modifications to its daily operational practices.  Then Flavorus asked the same of their clients by promoting their paperless will-call ticket delivery and order placement.  Finally, Flavorus has taken the progressive step to neutralize its remaining carbon footprint for the past six years by supporting Carbonfund.org’s carbon reduction and clean air technology projects around the world.   

"Since its inception 10 years ago, Flavorus has looked for progressive business practices.  We are proud to be the first in our industry to make environmental responsibility part of our identity," explains Todd Sims, CEO. 

Flavorus uses a high volume “Jetstream” application that can process 150,000 tickets in 10 seconds per event.  Clients also can customize their Flavorus event page to match the company’s own website and marketing style, and can embed ticket sales system directly into website with custom widgets. And Flavorus features e-ticketing, which reduces the labor, paper, mailing and costs associated with printing and mailing tickets to buyers.

“Our transformation involved three critical phases: cleaning up our operations, bringing our customers and clients on board, and partnering with a carbon offset organization to help fund environmental projects around the globe,” emphasizes Sims. “With focus and determination, every individual can make a difference and reverse the damage being done to the environment. We only have one planet, and we’re committed to keeping it green.”

Carbonfund.org is thrilled to continue our partnership with Flavorus and encourages every business to examine the steps they can take today to help protect our environment by reducing and neutralizing harmful carbon emissions.