YOUNTVILLE, CALIF.—Bardessono has just received the highest level of official recognition possible for its sustainable and environmentally friendly design. The hotel has been awarded LEED Platinum certification, an achievement reached by only two other hotels in the world, on the first anniversary of its opening. Phil Sherburne built Bardessono with the intention of creating a hotel that provides guests with a luxurious experience while simultaneously protecting the environment. “I believe it is critical for the development community to be a leader in the effort to preserve a healthy planet,” Sherburne says. “We can’t just continue to talk about environmental problems, we have to begin to act. I hope we have provided an example from which others can benefit.” The hotel’s design, construction and operation followed guidelines of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System.

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Vantage Hospitality Group announced that all of its nearly 900 Americas Best Value Inn and Canadas Best Value Inn properties throughout North America will carry shampoo, body lotion and bath soap with biodegradable packaging in their guestrooms. “This isn’t just a commitment to the environment, it’s a commitment to our hotel owners and guests,” said Roger Bloss, CEO, president and founder of Vantage Hospitality.

SEDONA, ARIZ.—Sedona’s Kings Ransom Inn recently launched Green Suites International’s “EcoRoom Accommodation Program,” converting each of its 53 guestrooms into healthier, more environmental “EcoRooms.” The guestrooms will now feature more than a dozen environmental products. Kings Ransom Inn has also received a 4-leaf rating as part of the Green Suites Green Hotel Certification Program.

Hiring an experienced furniture refinishing company can help financially and environmentally. By refinishing rooms rather than buying new furniture, hotels can modernize rooms easily while keeping costs to a minimum. Refinishing, reupholstering and repurposing furniture typically achieves a cost savings of between 65 and 92 percent compared to purchasing new furniture. It is a particularly effective way of ensuring rooms meet customers’ expectations—while helping your bottom line. Modern refinishing methods are also environmentally-friendly.

ALPHARETTA, GA.—The Refinishing Touch, a specialist in environmentally safe and sustainable on-site furniture refinishing, upholstery and armoire modifications, has launched a government-approved television recycling program that will reduce the amount of electronic waste created by its customer organizations during furniture remodeling projects.

VANCOUVER, B.C.—Waste-Not-Basket Inc. has just released a new recycling basket. The plastic baskets are a natural follow-up to a wicker recycling basket first introduced more than 10 years ago by Susan Memory, company president and founder. “We continue to provide a way for hotel guests to divert waste from landfills, pump up employee morale and save properties money,” she says. “And the baskets look nice and are easy to handle.”

RALEIGH, N.C.—In October, the Raleigh Convention Center joined an elite group of convention centers—those that have earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. In Raleigh’s case, it earned LEED Silver, joining the Phoenix Convention Center, Spokane (Wash.) Convention Center Expansion, and the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Ore., as LEED Silver recipients. The Raleigh facility earned the LEED designation a little more than a year after the center opened in September 2008. The Raleigh Convention Center is owned and managed by the City of Raleigh. According to Laurie Okun, director of sales and marketing for the center, it made financial sense to pursue LEED certification. “The costs were neutral,” Okun says. “It was going to cost just as much one way or another.”

PULASKI, N.Y.—A family-owned and operated business for over 30 years, HealthWay has launched a new line of green cleaning products designed to improve indoor air quality. The line is called terafore. A number of studies have drawn a link between traditional cleaning products and the substantial increase in the number of people—especially children—afflicted with asthma and allergies.

BETHESDA, MD.—Now that’s a lot of cooking oil. According to Brad Nelson, corporate chef and vice president of culinary for Marriott International, the company’s hotels in North America generate about 5.5 million pounds of used cooking oil each year. Add in the properties outside North America and that number just about doubles. With so much spent cooking oil to deal with, what’s a company the size of Marriott to do? This past summer the company started a test program at just a few properties in the Washington, D.C. area that resulted in the cooking oil being converted to biodiesel. The company picking up the oil: Greenlight Biofuels, a subsidiary of Charlottesville, Va.-based Greenlight Energy Resources. The program at the test properties has since been expanded to include a total of thirteen Marriott, Renaissance, JW Marriott, and Courtyard hotels in the D.C. area and Marriott’s corporate headquarters in Bethesda, Md.

HONOLULU, HAWAII—Outrigger Enterprises Group received the inaugural “Green Leader Award” recently from Reynolds Recycling for being top recycling and sustainability leaders in Hawaii’s tourism industry. Outrigger’s owned and operated hotels in Waikiki have prevented more than 48,000 pounds of recyclable material from entering Honolulu’s landfill by recovering more than one million beverage containers from their guestrooms since 2006. “With over 4,000 guest rooms in Waikiki, we realized that our combined efforts could make a significant impact in keeping Hawaii green,” said David Carey, president and CEO of Outrigger Enterprises Group. “Hawaii’s beauty rests heavily on our pristine environment and as ambassadors for the tourism industry, it is our responsibility to not only maintain, but to improve our Hawaii home for future generations to enjoy.”