Q1 2014 Q2 2014 Highlights of this issue ISO 20121 Certifications EarthCheck Silver Earth Day and World Hunger Day Environmental Awareness Increasing Sands ECO360 Quarterly More than just ideas these are our steps to action By: Rene Brana, Global Sustainability Manager MBS - EarthCheck Silver ISO 20121 Event Sustainability Management Marina Bay Sands (MBS) has taken yet another step in its sustainable journey by achieving EarthCheck Silver Certification this year. The international certification serves as a testament to MBS dedication to increasing the sustainability of both their operations and their event planning. MBS achieved EarthCheck Bronze Benchmarked status back in 2011, making the leap from Bronze to Silver is no small achievement. It requires tracking of all resource consumption in daily operations including water and waste throughout the entire facility. Additionally, MBS had to verify that all products offered for sale, did not contain any protected or endangered species as a part of the auditing process for the certification. The certification process included auditing MBS 2,562 hotel rooms, more than 600,000 square feet of convention and retail space, the ArtScience Museum, two large theaters, and over 60 restaurants and dining venues. MBS became the first integrated resort to achieve this distinct recognition, adding another achievement to the number of sustainable accolades already received by the resort! Last quarter, we celebrated the amazing achievement of the ISO 20121 Sustainable Events Management certification at Marina Bay Sands. As a result, Marina Bay Sands became the first integrated resort in Asia to achieve this sustainable events milestone. In addition to this impressive achievement, The Venetian Macao just became the first property in Macao to earn the ISO certification. This certification complements the overall Sands ECO360 Sustainable Meetings program by ensuring that we can consistently provide industry-leading green meeting services to our clients.
SCL- Discovery Tour Keeping with the tradition of conservation education, a group of Sands China Ltd. (SCL) Team Members took part in a community green tour of the island of Coloane. The tour provided an opportunity to learn more about how development, urbanization, and conservation issues affect their daily lives. Other visits organized by SCL over the past year have included a trip to the Macao Water Supply Co. to learn about the importance of water conservation and a trip to the Companhia de Electrecidade de Macau (CEM) power station to learn more about how power is generated. Visits like these have allowed Team Members to learn how energy production and consumption impact them and ways that they can make a difference. Earth Day and World Hunger Day Earth Day, which began on April 22 nd, 1970, celebrated its 44 th birthday this year. The event celebrated what many consider to be the birth of the environmental movement and inspired coast to coast rallies of support. Today, we celebrate Earth Day as a way of taking action to keep our planet and our people healthy. Continuing in our annual tradition, all properties celebrated the day with Earthfriendly festivities. Including luncheons and paper reduction walks at Marina Bay Sands and seed packet giveaways at Sands Bethlehem. Recycling drives were held at both the Las Vegas and Macao properties to reinforce the importance of this event. These drives were part of the I Will If You Will challenge. Our properties competed against one another by holding events for their Team Members. This year s winner, which had the greatest Team Member participation, was Sands China Ltd.! World Hunger Day, which took place May 28 th, began as part of The Hunger Project which aims to end world hunger. Originally an initiative piloted by MBS with great success, World Hunger Day events were rolled out at all LVS properties this year to raise awareness about food waste reduction. Many properties held a Clean Plate Challenge, which sought to challenge Team Members to reduce food waste by taking only what they could eat to minimize the amount of food that was thrown out. Additionally, canned food drives were held to benefit local charities. Thank you to all the Team Members who participated and helped make these events a success!
Bethlehem ECO360 Environmental Awareness Awardee Sands Bethlehem has initiated its first quarterly Environmental Awareness Award to show appreciation for actions taken to advance the message of sustainability. This quarter s winner is Megan Verholy, advertising and brand manager. She is a member of the Sands Bethlehem Green Team and has been a key driver for a number of programs on site such as Earth Hour, Earth Day, and even the hotel s Green Key certification. Congratulations, Megan; you truly do embody the green spirit! MBS UFI Sustainable Development Award SCL- Macao Green Hotel Award Sands China Ltd. was recently awarded the Macao Green Hotel Award from the Macao Environmental Protection Bureau and the Macao Government Tourist Office. The award was created to raise awareness of the importance of environmental management practices throughout Macao s hotel industry. All three Sands Cotai Central properties (Holiday Inn, Sheraton, and Conrad), each received the prestigious Gold Award. This is another great accomplishment for the team in Macao. LV: Clean the World Events This June, Marina Bay Sands received an honorable mention at the UFI, Sustainable Development Award ceremony. UFI, an association which makes up the world s leading tradeshow organizers, named MBS as one of three finalists in the competition for best measurement tool for effective results. It is because of the tremendous success in tracking energy and resource metrics, that the Sands ECO360 program was honored in this category and it s great to see their accomplishment s recognized. EH Team Engagement Award Marina Bay Sands (MBS) has been recognized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for the lasting and sustainable difference made by its Team Members. The MBS team showed their commitment to the Earth Hour campaign by expanding their existing initiatives during the annual event. WWF measured the impact and reach, creativity, and the sustainability of the resort s growing efforts. As a result, MBS was presented with the Earth Hour Staff Engagement Award. MBS did an amazing job conducting multiple events aimed at engaging more than 3,900 Team Members from all areas of the resort s operations. Great job MBS, and keep it up! Las Vegas Team Members have been busy over the past few months continuing to work with Clean the World, a global non-profit which collects and recycles discarded soap then distributes fresh bars to needy communities around the world. Las Vegas Sands has been a huge supporter of this cause over the years, and it shows. Over the course of two events, one held in April and the second in June, a total of 90 volunteers built 3,422 hygiene kits, sorted more than 1,700 pounds of soap and more than 450 pounds of bottled amenities in less than two hours. It s great to see all of the things that teamwork can accomplish!
LV Food Donation The Las Vegas team started a food donation program focused on donating all leftover food from banquets to local food shelters and missions. The program was implemented at two events so far, both with banquets seating over 10,000 guests, and has proven to be very successful. While there were a number of operational challenges that needed to be overcome to get to this point, we have now been able to standardize the program for all meeting clients. So far, the Las Vegas campus donated more than 10,000 pounds of food over the two events, which in turn served over 5,000 meals to people affected by hunger. The Las Vegas properties also began donating food and beverage items to the non-profit organization Harvest Time International, which provide these items to needy families throughout the United States. The properties donate products including; soda, water, chips, canned goods, pasta and rice. In total, they donated more than 1,000 pounds the first month the program was in effect. SCL- Student Sustainability Field Activity The Venetian Macao recently held a field trip for 65 4 th grade students from The International School of Macao. Students were able to experience the strides the resort has taken to embed sustainability within its operations. This also facilitated an exchange of ideas, as the students presented a number of projects they have started.. The students also had the opportunity to learn from some of the resort s past initiatives, including the I Will If You Will campaign. It was a truly rewarding experience as one student commented: This was a really interesting field trip and I ended up learning a lot, I liked seeing how a huge resort like The Venetian can do things to keep Macao green; it really helped me understand more about sustainability. I think it d be fun to participate in more activities like this if I get another chance. New PA Recycling Bins Property Tour Taking strides to increase recycling is always a difficult task. But, the team at Sands Bethlehem has continues to do just that. They purchased a number of recycling bins for all of their hotel rooms; making them the second property in our portfolio to fully roll out in-room recycling. Having recycling bins in each hotel room not only encourages our guests to recycle, but also reminds them of all the other little steps that we take to preserve the environment. The team in Bethlehem continues to do great things! Group Activity
MBS - Sustainable Seafood During the World Wildlife Fund s Sustainable Seafood Festival, which was started to help educate young people about eco-friendly fishing, Marina Bay Sands showcased their sustainable seafood offerings. Because many current practices, such as fishing with nets and fish farming, can have long lasting negative impacts on the marine environment, it is important to understand where and how our food is collected and processed. This helps to ensure that everyone can enjoy seafood for many years to come. SCL Energy Saving Week In collaboration with the local government in Macao, Sands China Ltd. took part in Macau Energy Saving Week 2014 and is also participating in the Smart Casual Summer activity, which encourages Team Members to work in business casual attire allowing the air conditioners to remain a few degrees higher. All SCL properties turned off their non-essential exterior lighting for one hour in the month of June to help raise awareness of the importance of energy conservation in Macao. Additionally, the SCL properties hosted three events including the kick-off ceremony, a fashion design competition, and a fashion show. A number of additional tips on ways to save energy will be placed around the property for the benefit of the Team Members. SCL & MBS IMEX GMIC Both Sands China Ltd. and Marina Bay Sands received recognition at the IMEX Gala Dinner held in Frankfurt, Germany. SCL received the IMEX GMIC Green Supplier Award which was presented to Syed Mubarak, director of sustainability. The award was received for our leading environmental management system in Macao. It was also noted that the recycling program at The Venetian Macao is one of the most impressive in the region, recycling more than 800 tons of paper, 60 tons of plastic, 50 tons of cooking oil, 25 tons of metal, and 150 tons of other recyclables such as glass, soap and shampoo in 2013. MBS received special mention for helping Global Initiatives, the organizers of the Responsible Business Forum, achieve the IMEX Green Meeting Award. As stated by Global Initiative s Tony Gourlay, This is a wonderful achievement for us but without the support of Marina Bay Sands we wouldn t have achieved a large number of goals that resulted in this industry award. They too are to be congratulated for their part in this wonderful win tonight. Congratulations to both teams on their achievements! Sands ECO360 Report It s finally here! The latest edition of the Sands ECO360 report, which will highlight all of the amazing achievements in 2013, will be released in the coming weeks. We invite you to take a look by clicking HERE. In the Next Issue >>> Awards Galore! Community Engagement Events CDP Results We d love to hear from you! Email your comments and/or questions to: SandsECO360@Sands.com.