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New NRA Website Impresses with Valuable Tips, Links, Success Stories

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Because the dates for the National Restaurant Association’s (NRA) annual Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show in Chicago fell right on the heels of the HD 2008 Expo & Conference this year, I was unable to attend. However, there was an announcement made at the restaurant show that you should know about—especially if you operate any kind of food and beverage operation. The NRA announced the launch of “Conserve: Solutions for Sustainability,” an initiative designed to support the United States’ nearly one million restaurant and foodservice locations as they become more eco-friendly.

“We are launching Conserve to raise awareness and provide resources and information about eco-friendly practices to the entire restaurant and foodservice community,” said Dawn Sweeney, president and CEO of the NRA, in a statement issued at the show. “We believe this initiative will prove to be a great step toward an environmentally sound future while preserving the vitality of our industry.”

Central to the Conserve program is a new website that includes many helpful resources and tips to reduce water and energy consumption in the kitchen. A YouTube video features representatives of different restaurants, each relating their own advice on how to get started. Niki Leondakis, COO of Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants, is one of the executives interviewed in the video.

“All restaurants, no matter how large or small—from big corporations with thousands of franchised locations to small, independent neighborhood eateries—can do their part, at the pace they can sustain, to reduce our industry’s impact on the environment and conserve resources for future generations,” Leondakis said.

Just the Beginning

In addition to providing tips and resources, the website includes stories about several restaurants that have successfully implemented environmentally friendly practices. Initially focused on energy, water and construction, the site will grow over time to include other aspects of sustainability, including recycling, packaging, cleaning supplies and food and beverages.

The website also features success stories of eco-friendly practices or products that involve an initial investment, but ultimately pay for themselves in savings from energy and water efficiency. Some examples of these practices include installing low-flow valves for pre-rinse sprayers, low gallons per flush toilets, energy efficient refrigerators and other appliances, and replacing incandescent with fluorescent lighting.

A Facts & Stats section provides information about energy and water consumption. For example, did you know that letting a faucet run for five minutes uses as much energy as letting a 60-watt light bulb run for 14 hours? Or that restaurants use five times more energy per square foot than other commercial buildings and five times more energy in the kitchen than in the rest of the building?

Links to Rebate, Incentive Information

One of my favorite sections of the site is the Find Resources section that enables one to search, by state, for tax rebates and other incentives. A page with links to federal sources of information is also included. Partial funding to launch the Conserve initiative was supplied through a grant from the Turner Foundation. The Turner Foundation, dedicated to creating solutions for sustainable living, is a founding partner of the initiative.

“The National Restaurant Association and our members are concerned about the environmental impact of our industry,” Sweeney says. “We look forward to helping the industry become more focused on sustainability through the Conserve initiative.”

The site is well designed, easy to navigate, and is off to a great start. Congratulations to the NRA for putting together such a valuable resource.

UNLV/JMBM Hotel Developers Conference

I was fortunate to attend the UNLV/JMBM Hotel Developers Conference earlier this year in March. Jim Butler, chairman, Global Hospitality Group, Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro LLP, has done a great job providing post-conference information on his Hotel Law Blog website. Click here to access the coverage.

GLN Welcomes Lynden Door as Directory Partner

Green Lodging News welcomes Lynden Door as a Green Product & Service Directory partner. Abbotsford, British Columbia-based Lynden Door is a wood interior door manufacturer. Since 1978, the company has earned a reputation for design leadership, quality and superior service. Its comprehensive product portfolio includes both residential and commercial products.

Lynden Door features in-house machining, a UV finish line (no VOCs) and an extensive “GreenDor” line of environmental attributes including no added urea formaldehyde, agfiber cores, and FSC/SFI certification. Call (877) 852-3667, e-mail mitch.toews@lyndendoor.com, or go to www.lyndendoor.com.

As always, I can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.

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