Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational sets up to join golf’s sustainability leaderboard
Innovative new event on the LPGA Tour adopts 5-year strategy in partnership with GEO Foundation
MIDLAND, Mich. (May 15, 2019) – In another major step forward for sustainability in and through golf, the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational announced today the event is teaming up with GEO Foundation to create one of the most social and environmentally responsible golf tournaments by striving to become the first fully GEO Certified® Tournament on the LPGA Tour. Verified by the Council for Responsible Sport, the event’s new initiative further accelerates Dow’s strategy to positively impact people’s lives through sports.
“The sustainability initiative in partnership with GEO Foundation aligns well with the new Dow ambition and our desire to bring even greater innovation and value into the tournament,” said Chris Chandler, executive director of the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational. “By working with our partners at GEO Foundation and the LPGA, we aspire to achieve the highest standards of delivery and integrating resource efficiency, environmental protection and social inclusion. Our vision is that this initiative will inspire and educate operations partners and sponsors to adopt more sustainable practices and help set a benchmark for other golf tournaments and their commercial partners on the LPGA Tour.”
Addressing Sustainability Issues
As part of the GEO Certified® Tournament initiative, the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational and the GEO Foundation will work together to address a number of important societal issues over the next five years. Those include:
- Nature protection and enhancement
- Sustainable procurement
- Resource efficiency and climate mitigation
- Access and equity
- Advocacy, communications and legacy
“It’s always very exciting when a large event steps forward with clear goals and ambition to deliver on issues that are of tremendous importance to the local community and society at large,” said Jonathan Smith, executive director of GEO Foundation. “We commend the teams at Dow, Octagon, Midland Country Club and the LPGA for their leadership, and look forward to helping drive, recognize and promote the results generated over the coming years.”
Year One Sustainability Activities at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational
Initial activities have been centered on developing a foundation of policies and priority actions that will be built on and innovated around year-on-year. For 2019 they include:
- Development of 5-year Dow Great Lakes Bay Sustainability Commitment and Action Plan
- Midland Country Club registration in the OnCourse® sustainability program for golf facility operations, with a commitment to becoming GEO Certified® and delivering continual improvement to foster nature, conserve resources and support the community
- Sustainable Procurement Code and best practices distributed to all tendering vendors, spanning waste and recycling; transportation; water resource management; energy and power; and catering
- Partnership with Northwood University, engaging students in data gathering, tracking and recording of actions, including climate impacts
- Strong emphasis on STEM education and learning across on-site spectator experiences
- Commitment to tracking, reducing, mitigating and external reporting of Tournament Carbon Footprint
- Tracking and 3rd party verification against the GEO Certified® Tournament Standard/Criteria
- Creating an event app to enhance guest experience, streamline communication and reduce paper waste
- New sustainability webpage at www.DowGLBI.com, and associated communications plan
Spectators onsite will be educated on best practices that will be highlighted throughout the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational. That education will begin at the event’s Welcome Center, where each guest walking through the gate will be encouraged to make a commitment while onsite at the tournament to do their best in helping us achieve our goals.
Ticket sales for the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational are now available via our website www.DowGLBI.com. To stay up to stay up-to-date on all event information, join the social conversation at www.facebook.com/DowGLBI, www.twitter.com/DowGLBI, and www.instagram.com/dowglbi (@DowGLBI).
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