September 23, 2009 - Sustainable online casinos? Who
knew? Well, according to the website of Del Rio Casino, for every new depositing
player, they will plant a tree. Billing themselves as the "First Eco-Casino", or
rather "First Eco Online Casino", Casino Del Rio has come a long way from
their early days as a tropical-themed casino in the late nineties. Indeed,
Playtech-powered Casino Del Rio has been around for quite some time. Sister site
to the popular Euro Casino,
Casino Tropez, Del Rio still offers the same "Jetson-esque" graphics and
great customer support that owner/manager, Hardway Investments, has come to be
known for.
Now, while I do appreciate the fact that Del Rio is going
green, I would be lying if I didn't say I've some "ish" with
this whole "World's 1st Eco Casino". First off, it's clear
that Del Rio gave themselves this title. I mean, it would be
different if, say, some accredited green council of sorts
gave this title. The only accreditation that Del Rio has is
something from the non-profit "New Green Group", which quite
frankly, I've never heard of. Furthermore, their website
doesn't reveal much about what they do. Nor, can I
find any other businesses boasting the "New Green Group"
Seal of Approval. Apparently, they are owned by the Turner
Broadcasting System.
To give them the benefit of the doubt, the New Green
Group could really be new, hence the lack of information.
But even so, New Green Group needs to give themselves a new
dose of transparency and content as to exactly what they do.
On their website they talk a little about helping businesses
become more sustainable, which involves calculating their
carbon footprint and putting measures in place that will
help reduce said footprint. They go on to say they will act
as an "intermediary between independent businesses and
ecological initiatives", but offer not information on
exactly what this means. In other words, they talk the green
"talk", if you know what I mean. To get involved, they
simply say to contact them. I'm tempted to do so myself.
There's no phone number - just an email.
As for Casino Del Rio, like I said, I totally appreciate
the steps they've taken to go green, which include the
aforementioned commitment to plant trees, as well as
implementing a recycling program and employing energy
wastage monitors to help lower their business operations
Carbon footprint. But are they the first Eco-Casino, really?
I mean, if we are going to take a look at sustainability on
a large scale, you could say that Ladbrokes was the first
eco-casino, albeit Ladbrokes does more in the sports betting
arena than online casino gambling. The reason I mention
Ladbrokes is because they were actually just given the
Number One position on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.
In other words, they've done a lot more for the environment
than any other online casino, not to mention any other large
corporation period.
So, what's the lesson to be learned from all this? Well,
if you're an online casino operator, now you have something
to live up to. And live up to it you should. If you're
Casino Del Rio, first off, great job on going green. Now,
step it up even more, get more transparent, heck, start a
blog about going green and corporate sustainability. Start
tackling environmentally friendly projects that will get
some news buzz, and you'll become the Golden Palace of
sustainability! It's a good start, but not enough to call
yourself the "World's First Eco-Casino".
Originally published:
September, 2009 | Categories:
Online Casino