Lessons from GHG Emissions Reduction Endeavors

The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess came to GreenLight with the challenge of how to decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from employee transportation. The resort had attempted to do this by signing up for the Maricopa County SharetheRide app, but employee participation was low. In hopes of popularizing the app, we took this challenge as an opportunity to find a creative means to understand the needs of employees. Therefore, we created a survey to gauge why or why not employees would participate in the program. The results from the survey could be used for future marketing and incentive programs to increase employee ridesharing.

Another challenge that arose late in the project was that the survey could not be sent to Fairmont employees after all. Rather than letting the survey go to waste, we took this as an opportunity to share the survey with Maricopa ShareTheRide and Valley Metro for them to utilize. After seeing similar surveys that were not as advanced or comprehensive as ours, we were excited to share our survey with these partners. The Project Partner and other companies gained survey results that could serve their future needs better than other surveys used in the past.

Our team received feedback from survey experts on how to create an efficient and professional level survey. We also learned how to be adaptable and communicative in situations with multiple stakeholders involved. We did not let the unforeseen situation with Fairmont discourage us. Adaptability and being resourceful are essential skills for successful sustainability project management. Though it wasn’t the outcome we expected, we are proud to say that our team and partners still gained value. We look forward to working with these partners in the future.

Written by Alyssa Woodruff, Jessica Bistrais, & Ashley Weisman

Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Fall 2019 Project Team: Saylee Koli (Project Lead), Alyssa Woodruff, Jessica Bistrais, Robbie Kiehl, Erika Kriner