Anyone who believes tourist railroads aren’t sophisticated operations hasn’t heard about the Grand Canyon Railway (GCR). The railroad recently obtained ISO 14001 third-party certification for its environmental management system (EMS), becoming the first U.S. tourist railroad to attain the certification.
ISO 14001 is an international EMS standard governed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The ISO 14001 standard ensures environmental protection, regulatory compliance, continual improvement and pollution prevention.
Xanterra Parks & Resorts, which operates GCR, must continually improve its EMS standards to maintain the certification and has to renew the ISO 14001 standing each year.
To become ISO 14001 compliant, GCR needed to institute a property-wide recycling program, decrease water consumption by 10 percent, reduce fossil fuel usage, eliminate all hazardous solvents used for cleaning, collect and recycle batteries, recycle or reuse train wheels, and meet other stringent requirements.
The railroad plans to soon use waste vegetable oil to power its steam locomotive, research renewable energy sources and employ a Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design “green” building rating system, among many future measures. The road also expects to continue replacing incandescent lights with LEDs.
Kudos to GCR — which provides daily service to the Grand Canyon from Williams, Ariz., 65 miles to the south of the landmark — for doing whatever it takes to become ISO compliant. And for doing even more, such as selling reusable shopping bags, rechargeable batteries and environmental-themed children’s books, including “50 Simple Things Kids Can Do To Save The Earth,” in its gift shop.
There are lots of relatively simple things small railroads — from the freight to passenger to tourist variety — can do to help preserve old Mother Earth. Recycling and reducing electricity usage are among them. I hope to hear about more railroads like GCR that are taking both the simple and complex routes to environmental stewardship.
Posted
09-03-2009 3:09 PM
by
Jeff Stagl