Star attractions turn a green leaf
Want to get to the bottom of sustainable tourism in Alberta? Just head over to the Calgary Zoo, where they're composting dung from elephants and other herbivore animals. Every summer day, the zoo sends a truckload of animal droppings, kitchen scraps and grass clippings to the City of Calgary's compost site. Once this feedstock - along with organic materials from city parks - is turned into rich compost, some of it returns to the zoo's gardens as a valuable soil conditioner. Not far away, the Calgary Stampede is doing much the same thing. Every July, it ships several tonnes of horse manure, straw and kitchen waste to a composting site, east of Calgary, which produces bagged compost for consumer gardens. These are some of the small but important steps that more Alberta outfits catering to tourists are taking to make their operations more environmentally sustainable. For example, a growing number of restaurants are looking to sell their grease - normally a waste product - to producers of biodiesel. A retailing pioneer in sustainable operations is the Bison Courtyard in Banff. This three-storey complex features a vegetated roof, highly-efficient use of energy and water and landscaped areas that reflect the three ecosystems of Banff National Park. Tenants can easily compost and recycle organic waste and receive rent rebates if they take steps to reduce their environmental impacts. The Bison Mountain Bistro, for instance, sources regional ingredients whenever possible and boasts tables of reclaimed wood and a bar made of salvaged pressed tin.
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