Ski Green this Season with Clif Bar

With the alarming news that snowpack in the Western U.S. will diminish by 70% over the next 50 years and that some ski resorts in the Rocky Mountains will be shut down by 2050 (if global warming continues at its current rate), Clif Bar has announced that for the ’05-’06 winter season they will be launching a nationwide campaign to green the slopes at several ski resorts. The campaign consists of several different initiatives that Clif Bar is taking, the first being a partner with the 2006 Golden Eagle Awards program, which honors the nation’s most eco-friendly ski resorts.

The Golden winner will have demonstrated the strongest commitment to the environment through energy conservation, clean energy use and habitat protection, to name just a few of the efforts, and will receive a cash prize. The Silver Eagle Award recipient will receive a green energy credit to fund enough renewable energy to run a ski lift “pollution free” for the entire ski season. Separately, Clif Bar announced that they will purchase clean wind power to help at least five other ski resorts offset the energy that they use to run their lifts, including Park City and four in the Lake Tahoe area.

The second initiative by Clif Bar focuses on educating the public on renewable energy to offset their own impact on global warming. They will be offering resort-goers a chance to purchase green energy credits called “Cool Tags.” These will be sold for $2 each and will fund enough wind energy to offset the global warming impact of 300 miles of auto travel. The company is also sponsoring a SkiGreen Mini-Tag program with the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on developing new sources for renewable energy. In addition, Clif Bar has partnered with skicarpool.com to encourage skiers to carpool in Colorado and a public service announcement will begin airing on Resorts Sports Network (RSN TV) to educate ski resort guests on global warming. We’re taking a trip to Park City, Utah in a few months and needless to say we’re excited to check all of this out. We’ll let you know what we come up with. Via ::GreenBiz ::ClifBar