One of our green initiatives is fleet management. We have several pieces of equipment or vehicles that use alternative fuels. We use different types of electrical powered equipment such as forklifts, pallet jacks and segways. We also have vehicles that are powered with propane. We have several golf carts that are solar powered along with some pieces of equipment that are charged with solar panels.

Solar powered golf cart

And, we cannot forget the use of bicycles that our Security team often uses to get from place to place. For those pieces of equipment and vehicles that use diesel or gasoline, we have fueling practices that do not allow our team to refuel during the hottest parts of the day.

Many of our green initiatives allow our team members to play an active role. SeaWorld has a Team Member Recycling Center where team members can bring their clean and segregated recyclables from home. In the first year of our Team Member Recycling Center, we recycled over 10,000 pounds of recyclables!

Team Member Recycling Center

Team members who work in an office environment at the park have more efficient lighting than they had a few years ago. Some team members have even elected to work with less light fixtures in their offices. Less lighting saves on electrical consumption and also on the air conditioning demand in their area. Some team members are part of our SWEAT group – SeaWorld Environmental Action Team. SWEAT participates in different clean up activities as well as developing conservation initiatives that the park will undertake. The newest conservation initiative has the team going through the park and performing energy conservation audits by looking for ways to conserve energy throughout our facility.

Here are some community initiatives that you may not be aware of:

• Parking location for Northwest Vista College
• Location of VIA parking area
• Participation in CPS Energy‘s Load Curtailment Program

SeaWorld San Antonio is extremely honored to be awarded by the Alamo Area Council of Governments with an Air Quality Stewardship Award.

Air Quality Stewardship Award - 2010

We definitely have our work cut out for us to continue to reduce our impact on the environment. Through the support of our team members, we will continue to make SeaWorld an even greener place to work and visit.

Related posts:

1. The Greener Side of SeaWorld San Antonio
2. A Trip Like No Other: Studying Bottlenose Dolphins in Greece

Just because the holiday season has come to an end, doesn’t mean holiday spirit doesn’t linger on.  SeaWorld San Antonio takes the opportunity to pay it forward to organizations regularly.  A few non-profit organizations that SeaWorld has relationships with are Big Brothers Big Sisters, San Antonio Food Bank, St. Vincent DePaul Soup Kitchen and United Way.

In recent years, SeaWorld San Antonio compiled a team for Bowl for Kids' Sake, an annual Big Brothers Big Sisters event, to raise funds for the mentoring program.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas

Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas (also on Twitter and Facebook) is headquartered in San Antonio and serves the San Antonio community and surrounding counties by providing mentoring relationships for children, giving them a big brother or big sister to guide them to positive achievement as they grow.

Amy Persyn, Event Specialist at Big Brothers Big Sisters, helps raise money to support the matches between SeaWorld team members and the students. She said it’s most rewarding to see matches take place. “We hear feedback from struggling parents who are grateful to have their children in the program and from matches who have been paired up. It is great to hear the story behind the matches and how the bigs and littles were brought together.”

The San Antonio Food Bank

The San Antonio Food Bank (also on Twitter and Facebook) provides a supply of free food to 440 different agencies that help the needy in the San Antonio community and 16 surrounding counties. They lend a helping hand to families and individuals struck by homelessness, substance abuse, employment, broken families, and much more.

Team Members help out by boxing up food donations to the San Antonio Food Bank

The park is proud to help such a great organization. In fact, this last year we participated in San Antonio Food Bank’s “30 Ways in 30 Days” to fight hunger campaign, where we hosted a canned food drive offering admission discounts to park guests for every ten cans they donated.

Eric. S. Cooper, executive director of the San Antonio Food Bank said, “The San Antonio Food Bank is thrilled to be partnering with SeaWorld San Antonio, an organization committed to bettering the lives of those in our area struggling with hunger and food insecurity.”

The Society of St. Vincent DePaul

The Society of St. Vincent DePaul is a group of individuals who provide spiritual and physical assistance to those in need by serving nutritious meals to the hungry everyday.

SeaWorld San Antonio sends a group of team members to volunteer at the St. Vincent DePaul Soup Kitchen several times throughout the year.

Sylvia Najera, kitchen manager at the soup kitchen, says volunteers are needed daily to prepare and serve the food, especially during the holidays; there is always something to be done. Sylvia describes sitting down for a meal as a small comfort in the day, “at least they can sit down for a meal and relax.”

United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County

The United Way (also on Twitter and Facebook) is a worldwide effort consisting of 45 countries and over 1,300 organizations right here in the United States. They work to improve education, income, health care and to build a stronger community.

SeaWorld San Antonio has partnered with the United Way and helped raise money for the community through projects, silent auctions and generous donations. This past year’s campaign was lead by the park’s Zoological Department who set a goal to raise $50,000, and in the end they exceeded their goal by more then 10 percent.  Suzanne Straw, a member of the Zoological Department, said she was personally proud of the department’s planning efforts.

I’m proud our park lends a helping hand whenever we can. Have you ever volunteered your time to any of these organizations or projects in your community? The donation of your time is worth a lot more than you might imagine.

Related posts:

1. SeaWorld Miracle Card: Create a Christmas Miracle by Paying It Forward: Share Your Story for Chance to Win
2. Angels at SeaWorld Pay It Forward