National Sweater Day at The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise

WWF

This past National Sweater Day, the 35-member Environmental Committee at The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise celebrated their collective action against climate change with comfy sweaters, raffle prizes and comfort food!
David Sweater Day

© Director of Operations, David MacGillivray wears a Calgary Flames sweater

I talked to Teresa Holmes, Environmental Systems Manager at the Fairmont to find out more.
How did you celebrate National Sweater Day?
The husband of one of our Environmental Committee members works for the Calgary Flames. He personally donated a Flames jersey, which was signed by team members for our Sweater Day raffle. We combined the raffle with the “Sweater fit for a CEO” idea. For $2, colleagues entered their names to win the jersey AND they also received a ballot to vote for one of three sweaters that our Director of Operations would wear for sweater day.
Our staff cafeteria created a special “comfort food” menu on sweater day to raise awareness for the event. We had hot roast beef sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches and French fries!
How long did it take to plan it and what was your biggest success?
The overall planning took place during the last two weeks of January. The biggest key to our success was having a large number of engaged colleagues who worked together to plan and participate in the event.
Another key to success was our senior management support from our Director of Operations and a few managers supported by wearing sweaters too.
We were also very fortunate to have an exciting draw prize donated to us to increase our fundraising capabilities. We had approximately 100 employees purchase raffle tickets for a total of $215 raised for WWF.
What channels did you use internally to promote?
We posted facts about electricity and climate change around the employee backspaces and in the weekly employee newspaper. We also made announcements about the fundraising event through e-mails to all staff members.
What’s next for your Environmental committee?
Our Green Team is planning a special event for hotel guests during Earth Hour. We are also planning turn off all non-essential lighting in the public spaces of the hotel. We’ll welcome guests to attend a fireside storytelling event with one of our Mountain Heritage Guides on our outdoor lakeside terrace and provide complimentary tea, hot chocolate and cookies!
Interested in hosting campaigns like National Sweater Day and Earth Hour in your workplace? Check out WWF’s Living Planet @ Work program to find out what other green champions are doing!