The 2022 Green Business awardees were selected from thirty-four businesses that have joined the revamped program since July 2022.The five winners were selected because of the number of environmentally minded committed actions, the innovation and impact of these actions, and their enthusiasm and dedication to creating sustainability within their business.
Special thanks to Deer Valley for hosting this event on January 10, 2023.
Alpine Distilling
Green Business of the Year
A local distiller for whiskey and gin since 2016, Alpine Distilling has committed to eco-friendly practices from the beginning with transparency and openness. They support multiple non-profits in Park City via time and money, hire locally and purchase local products as much as possible. They’re always seeking new innovations in production and manufacturing, sustainable purchasing, and water conservation. Alpine Distilling consistently strives to reduce its carbon footprint, and they encourage suppliers, affiliates, and partners to do the same. They were the recipients of the Green Business Leadership Award from Utah Business, Blue Sky Renewable, and Rocky Mountain Power in 2021. Congratulations!
Accomplishments:
- Switched gas furnaces to heat pumps and invested in chillers to cut water demand in half.
- Rerouted water through a steam boiler to limit electrical demand for heating units.
- Sent all spent grains for distilling to Wasatch Recovery, which turns compost into methane for a renewable energy source.
- Retrofitted buildings to include low flush toilets, faucet aerators and a state-of-the-art water reuse system.
- Reduced turf by 25% to replace with native, drought tolerant and firewise landscaping where possible.
- Diverted 80% of their waste from the landfill.
- Sourced all products from local vendors and prioritized vendors with sustainable packing and reuse principles.
- Implemented a trip chaining policy and incentives for carpooling, bus passes, and e-bikes.
- Paid all employees and contractors a living wage with health insurance to employees.
Chesley Electric
Zest for Zero
This twenty-five-year-old locally owned Park City business has shifted its mission from just illuminating homes to becoming an environmentally oriented company at its core. Chesley Electric empowers clients to make decisions with the planet in mind. From energy-efficient lighting and appliances to solar energy, battery backups, heat pumps, and EV chargers. Their intent is to provide systems that make off-grid living more attainable. Chesley Electric has cultivated a family-like workplace with many of its employees still working there after 20 years. Everyone is on board to enhance sustainability within the company and within our community.
Accomplishments:
- Installed dimmers, occupancy sensors, and timed lights in the office.
- Recycled everything possible and purchased materials that are shipped with minimal packaging.
- Prioritized transactions with environmentally minded businesses and local businesses when possible.
- Reduced their truck mileage by 25% by improving the efficiency of routing and encouraging carpooling.
- Convinced their office’s HOA to turn off sprinklers save water.
- Support many local non-profits.
- Offered paid sick time and time off to all staff.
- Working to transition entire fleet to all electric (they own one electric truck currently).
- Changing flush valves, add aerators to all faucets, and lower water settings.
- Always working to reduce office paper usage and enhance onsite recycling.
- Would like to Achieve Black Diamond Level in the Green Business Program.
Ski Butlers
Global Impact
Ski Butlers started out of a garage in Park City in 2004. Now, they operate at fifty resorts in twenty-nine locations and four countries. Ski Butlers provides rental ski gear for visitors, removing the need to transport equipment or purchase new ones. In addition to a business model that inherently promotes reuse and a sharing economy, Ski Butlers has made it a priority to shift climate to the forefront of business decisions. Their multipronged approach has evolved over time, but the priority has been to focus on climate solutions in the communities they impact.
Accomplishments:
- Collaborated with Protect Our Winters (POW) and switched banks to stop financing fossil fuels.
- CEO Bryn Carey read Deep by Porter Fox, attended Climate Reality Training, and presented to Park City Municipal to lay the groundwork for the town to commit to 100% clean energy.
- Installed solar panels om Ski Butlers headquarters.
- Worked with Park City to establish North America’s most ambitious climate goals.
- lobbied with U.S. senators in D.C. for better climate policy.
- Committed to 100% clean energy by 2030
- Invested in reducing its business carbon footprint by purchasing electric delivery vans.
- Founded Mountain Towns to engage other mountain communities in climate action.
- Announced that all company assets are moved from JPMorgan Chase to KeyBank. Their decision to support banks that finance clean energy was an easy choice, but tough to implement.
EATS Park City: Eat Awesome Things
People’s Choice
EATS Park City originated in 2014 and has evolved into an essential non-profit advocate and resource for improving the health and well-being of children and families in our community. They are dedicated to teaching our next generation of land stewards how to be mindful of climate impact by learning how to grow vegetables, eat locally grown produce, increase plant-based consumption, and compost. EATS has been instrumental in contributing to lunchroom compost programs, school pumpkin compost programs, and community-wide Christmas tree collection. They communicate their sustainability efforts through camps, cooking classes, after-school programs, local Tower Gardens, and more.
Accomplishments:
- Advocated for use of compostable lunchroom trays vs. Styrofoam and plastic.
- Managed a school greenhouse with drip irrigation connected to rainwater bins.
- Eliminated office space with most employees working from home or using shared Kiln space.
- Donated/repurposed numerous supplies and furniture to transition to Kiln.
- Utilized DocuSign and Adobe products to sign documents and reduce printing.
- Paid staff a living wage with equity across race and gender.
- Addressed food security by partnering with PC Christian Center for food storage and distribution of afterschool ‘backpack’ snacks.
- Aiming to further enhance partnerships and opportunities to educate and advocate.
Continue exploring costs and benefits of returning to reusable lunch trays in our schools and how to best form lifelong habits for sustainable food waste disposal for our community.
