A number of additional award / accreditation schemes are open to golf clubs, should they wish to take advantage of a wider range of opportunities to promote their environmental achievements. These range from golf specific annual competitions, through to government led initiatives bridging a wide variety of business sectors.

STRI Golf Course Environment Awards:

These Awards replace the highly successful BIGGA Environment Competition and aim to recognise, promote and reward environmental management within the UK Greenkeeping industry. "They focus purely on the golf course and maintenance facility, giving the Course Manager complete control over their success within the program"

See www.golfenvironmentawards.com for full details of how to apply and prizes.

Green Tourism Business Scheme
A quality assurance scheme aimed at bringing business and environmental benefits to the Scottish tourism industry, managed by the Scottish Tourist Board and developed with support from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scottish Enterprise and Shetland Environmental Agency Ltd.
Currently the scheme is open to serviced and self-catering accommodation members of the STB's QA scheme.
Businesses nominate a number of environmental measures they are doing or have done from a total list of nearly 100 measures included in the scheme. There is a minimum number for each level. The measures are divided into 10 sections and businesses have to select at least one, two or three items from each section depending on the level they are applying for. Additional measures which the business may want to be taken into consideration can be included under the Bonus section.

Once they have applied, the business is inspected by an environmental auditor who scores the measures. The pass rate for all the levels is 80%. After the inspection a short report is produced highlighting good practice and making recommendations for improvement.

If you want more assistance on the technical aspects of the Green Tourism Business Scheme, or information about how to join the scheme please
contact SEA Ltd

Eco – Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) / ISO 14001
EMAS is an important EC initiative for stimulating improved standards of environmental performance. Under the scheme, companies gain a competitive advantage from the recognition of the continuous improvement of environmental performance at their sites. This is achieved by their use of effective management systems and the publication of independently verified environmental statements. ISO 14001, the environmental management standard, has been adopted as one of the management systems suitable for EMAS application.