Home Publisher's Point of View What Are You Planning for Earth Hour & Earth Day?

What Are You Planning for Earth Hour & Earth Day?

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Lodging establishments around the world will participate in two global events in the next two months: Earth Hour and Earth Day. Earth Hour is a World Wildlife Fund initiative and will take place on March 27 from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Individuals, businesses, governments and communities are invited to turn out their lights for one hour to show their support for action on climate change. The event began in Sydney in 2007, when 2 million people switched off their lights. In 2008, more than 50 million people, including many hoteliers, participated. In 2009, hundreds of millions of people and more than 4,000 cities in 88 countries officially switched off lights to pledge their support for the planet. Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has already committed to participate (see article) this year.

Last year more than 100 Accor hotels across Australia switched off their lights for an hour. Guests staying at Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Grand Mercure, Novotel, Mercure, All Seasons and Ibis hotels during Earth Hour were treated to a candlelight experience in restaurants and bars and encouraged to support the Earth Hour effort. Even the sky above the Las Vegas Strip was a little darker for an hour as properties such as the Luxor Las Vegas, Caesars Palace Las Vegas, and Stratosphere Las Vegas Hotel & Casino dimmed their lights.

This year is a special one for Earth Day because April 22 will mark the 40th anniversary of the first event. What activities do you have planned? At The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel in Dana Point, Calif., Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ambassadors of the Environment program will launch at the ocean front resort. Ambassadors of the Environment includes an environmental and cultural education center with excursions led by expert naturalists. Each day will be dedicated to different aspects of Southern California’s natural wonders. Last year, the Inn by the Sea in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, hosted a beach cleanup on Crescent Beach, supplying gloves, rakes, wheel barrows and bags to volunteers. The Peabody Orlando Green Team held an Earth Week. Activities included a scavenger hunt, Adopt-A-Road cleanup project for employees, and an Earth Day coloring contest for their children.

If your property intends to mark Earth Hour or Earth Day in any way, e-mail or call with details. I can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com or (440) 243-2055. I will share your news in a future column. Get creative and get your employees and guests involved. Have fun while also creating awareness of our planet’s environmental challenges. Use the events as launch points to make changes at your property—to more efficient lighting, or water-conserving fixtures, for example.

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Advertising Opportunities in 2010

There are still some excellent Green Lodging News advertising opportunities available for 2010, including ad spots on the website and in the weekly e-newsletter. There are also many Green Supplier Spotlight dates available throughout the year. If your company has a product or products it would like to feature in Green Lodging News in 2010, be sure to contact me at (440) 243-2055, or by e-mail at editor@greenlodgingnews.com. The 2010 media kit is available by request or by clicking here. Thank you to all of those companies that consistently support Green Lodging News.

Green Lodging News Blog & Twitter

Be sure to bookmark the Green Lodging News Blog in your browser. The address for the blog is http://greenlodgingnews.blogspot.com. More importantly, participate with your comments. Green Lodging News is also now on Twitter. To follow my postings, go to http://twitter.com/greenlodging. Be sure to add Green Lodging News to those tweets that you follow. Green Lodging News now has 376 Twitter followers.

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

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