Tourism event planting trees to make day greener

Posted on: June 25, 2010

Organizers of this year’s Huron Tourism Event and Brochure Swap want to make the event as green as possible by planting trees to offset any environmental impacts from hydro use or transportation related to the annual tourism networking day.

The Huron Tourism Association (HTA) is working with Exeter, Ontario environmental consulting firm Kuzuka Ltd. to look at ways to balance energy use with tree planting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “The Huron Tourism Association is pleased to be able to find ways to reduce our environmental footprint while still holding an exciting event that members of the tourism industry look forward to each year,” said Karen Stewart, President of HTA.

The environmental impact of a one-day local event like the brochure swap is relatively small, according to Stephen Boles, President of Kuzuka, but he applauded the Huron Tourism Association for implementing ways to make the event greener this year and for looking at ways to reduce environmental impacts in the future. “Our goal is to create a Huron Tourism Event and Brochure Swap that will be carbon-neutral and we will work together to make that possible,” said Boles.

Kuzuka helps organizations become more environmentally sustainable. The company’s services include carbon footprint assessments, green event planning, and sustainability strategy planning. The firm works with public and private sector organizations ranging in size from small boutique wineries to one of the world’s largest dairy product manufacturers.

The company will estimate energy useage at this year’s event and then make a modest donation, based on that assessment, to tree planting programs of the Ausable Bayfield and Maitland Valley conservation authorities. Boles said he hopes small donations like these will encourage other event organizers to consider how they can reduce their environmental impact.

Boles will be speaking at the April 21 tourism event on ‘Greening Your Tourism Business.’ As part of his talk, he will tell tourism businesses how they can help the environment while also reducing costs. Kuzuka has developed an easy-to-use environmental scorecard designed for the tourism industry. “Tourism operations can make changes, at low or no cost, that have an immediate impact on making them more environmentally friendly and improving their bottom line,” Boles said. “I’ll let them know how they can make that possible.”

Planting trees can help mitigate the climate-change effects of energy consumption as trees and plants remove carbon from the atmosphere and store (or ‘sequester’) it through photosynthesis, helping to reduce the greenhouse effect from burning fuel.

The Brochure Swap is the tourism association’s key business-to-business event of the year. It takes place at the Regional Equine and Agricultural Centre of Huron (REACH) in Clinton on April 21, 2010. The Brochure Swap portion of the day is open to the public, free of charge, from 3:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. For more information visit ontarioswestcoast.ca

CONTACT: Stephen Boles, President, Kuzuka Ltd., 519-235-6250 or e-mail sboles [at] kuzuka [dot] com or Tim Cumming, Communications Specialist, at Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA), 519-235-2610 or 1-888-286-2610 or e-mail tcumming [at] abca [dot] on [dot] ca

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Backgrounder

Stephen Boles is president of the Exeter, Ontario based environmental consulting firm Kuzuka Ltd. He received his Masters of Science degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1998 and then worked as a research scientist in the climate change field at the University of New Hampshire for eight years.

He returned to Ontario in 2006 and founded Kuzuka, which conducts carbon footprint assessments, carbon credit feasibility studies, and marketing and promotion of sustainability initiatives.

Kuzuka has worked for a variety of clients in the government and private sector ranging in size from small boutique wineries to one of the world’s largest dairy product manufacturers.