SOURCE: Las Vegas Sands
DESCRIPTION:
Sands is dedicated not only to providing industry-leading experiences for our guests, but to ensure our company’s environmental footprint has minimal impact on the environment – efforts we proudly undertake. Through Sands ECO360, our global sustainability program, we continuously investigate and implement strategies to protect the planet we all share.
We place particular focus on addressing concerns related to our planet’s most precious resource: water. In concert with longtime partner Clean the World, last year we developed The Drop by Drop Project, a unique initiative that reinvests our savings from water conservation projects around the world into water initiatives based in our business regions. Through The Drop by Drop Project, we focus on reinvigorating ecosystems, leveraging technology, increasing community resiliency, and engaging local communities. In 2020, the first iteration of Drop by Drop grant recipients was selected, each of which pursued innovative, impactful water conservation projects throughout the year: Seven Clean Seas, Get Outdoors Nevada and University of Saint Joseph Macao.
Seven Clean Seas is a social enterprise based in Singapore committed to reducing plastic pollution. With their Drop by Drop investment, the group aimed to design and develop a floating river plastic collection system to prevent plastic ocean pollution at the source. In 2020, they completed the system’s design and unveiled it to more than 7,000 Team Members at Marina Bay Sands during a virtual ceremony.
Get Outdoors Nevada is a nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting people of all ages and backgrounds to the state’s diverse outdoors. Through Drop by Drop, Get Outdoors Nevada is developing a series or teacher training and professional development opportunities focused on water resources, designed to equip teachers with the resources to educate their students about wetlands, watersheds and water conservation, a program which has been ongoing since the first half of 2021.
The University of Saint Joseph Macao:
“The Institute of Science and Environment at USJ is committed to addressing environmental challenges through scientific research and community outreach,” according to Professor Karen Tagulao, Principal Investigator, Institute of Science and Environment at University of Saint Joseph Macao. Their Drop by Drop-supported work involves studying the ecosystem service benefits provided by mangrove forests to the highly urbanized territory of Macao Special Administrative Regions (SAR). In 2020, the institute conducted field and lab experiments to measure how well those system remove water pollutants, and shared their work via public exhibition, lectures and workshops. “With Sands’ support through the Drop by Drop Project, we’re making great strides in investigating how wetlands, especially mangroves, can be utilized as a nature-based solution for climate change adaptation and mitigation for vulnerable coastal cities like Macao,” Professor Tagulao said.
As all the 2020 Drop by Drop grant recipients continue their important work, the program is gearing up to announce the second iteration of nonprofits the program is set to report. Soon, we'll announce the 2021 Drop by Drop Project grant recipients. For more information on the program, visit The Drop by Drop Project Website.
KEYWORDS: Las Vegas Sands, sustainability, water resource, ECO360 report, Sands ECO360
