Essay on Aspen Ski Case

Submitted By Utsav-Agarwal
Words: 363
Pages: 2

If I held the position of Executive Director of Sustainability for Aspen Skiing Company, I would have advised CEO Mike Kaplan to not sign onto the Greenpeace led Kimberly-Clark boycott. There were definite benefits of supporting the boycott such as being able to make a meaningful impact on the green initiatives of another company but the negative attention that ASC would receive from attaching their name to this campaign would outweigh any benefits that would have been gained. Supporting the boycott had the risk of inviting unwanted media attention and accusations of “greenwashing”, which is when companies would try to portray themselves as being environmentally proactive while actually doing very little for the environment. ASC had its own challenges to deal with, including a project to expand one of its ski areas by 500 acres as it faced strong push back from the local community and wildlife advocates. Even though ASC had made huge strides in reducing their carbon footprint and were being as environmentally sustainable as possible, they consumed enormous amounts of energy because of the nature of the ski industry; this could be seen as controversial because a company that uses massive amounts of energy and clears large portions of forests for its operating activities cannot blame another company for not being sustainable. Also I feel that they should be focusing their resources and efforts on what they are renowned for, providing a luxurious and world-class skiing