MCLEAN, VA.—Hilton Worldwide unveiled its annual Corporate Responsibility Report, noting that it has met another companywide sustainability goal ahead of schedule as well as made progress against the company’s full range of sustainability and responsibility commitments.Through continuous improvement and corrective action among its more than 4,000 hotels, Hilton Worldwide achieved its five-year goal to reduce water consumption by 10 percent and waste output by 20 percent in 2012, one and two years ahead of schedule respectively and continues its progress toward its goal to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions by 20 percent by the end of 2013. Since...

NATIONAL REPORT—Getting guests to forego linen laundering is one way to reduce linen-related costs and their associated environmental footprint. Another way is to choose linen that is inherently environmentally advantageous—in other words, its reduced footprint is built into its very fibers. Still another way is to choose a supplier that not only is concerned about the product itself but also the supply chain behind it, how it is made, and what happens to it at the end of its life.When considering environmental impact, there is no perfect sheet or pillow case. Cotton, unless it is certified organic, requires a...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized the first WaterSense specification for a commercial kitchen product. EPA estimates that approximately 51 billion gallons of water is used every year to rinse dishes by close to 1 million food service establishments in the country. Pre-rinse spray valves—which remove excess food waste from dishes prior to dishwashing—are now eligible to earn the WaterSense label and help food service establishments save water, energy, and money.If every U.S. commercial food service establishment installed and used a WaterSense labeled pre-rinse spray valve, the country could save more than 10 billion gallons of...

PORTLAND, ORE.—The Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) announced and launched a new campaign called Ask For It! in support of the APEX/ASTM standards that were completed and published in full this year.The campaign is targeted at planners, encouraging them to ask suppliers for sustainable practices. The easiest way to do this is by using the APEX/ASTM standards as a guide and resource. Once the conversation is started, the next step is to register their events and certify them at whatever level they find achievable to comply with the standards. It also is a call to action for suppliers to...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Restaurant Assn. announced the release of its first-ever sustainability report, which looks at environmentally stable trends and initiatives within the restaurant industry, such as food waste reduction, composting, recycling and cost-efficient energy solutions.“Sustainability and waste reduction are increasingly important issues across the restaurant and foodservice industry,” said Scott DeFife, Executive Vice President, Policy and Government Affairs, National Restaurant Association. “We have seen incorporation of eco-friendly business practices from large chains to independent operators, as well as manufacturers and other supply chain partners. The National Restaurant Association is working to ensure operators have access to the education,...

ORLANDO, FLA.—The Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) announced that it has been awarded Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance Gold (EBOM) certification from The Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), an arm of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). OCCC’s North-South Building is the largest convention center in the world to achieve LEED EBOM Gold certification.“Central Florida is now home to the world’s largest LEED EBOM Certified convention center,” said Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO & founding chair, U.S. Green Building Council.” “This accomplishment demonstrates unprecedented leadership from Orange County and its convention center...

CHICAGO—Kendall College School of Hospitality Management, ranked the No. 1 program in Chicago for preparing students for hospitality careers, has released its first-ever trends outlook for the hospitality industry in 2014. 1. Global Going Strong: International Knowledge in Demand According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, the travel and tourism industry is currently among the largest and fastest-growing industries worldwide, forecasted to support 328 million jobs, or 10 percent of the workforce, by 2022. A top 10 industry in the United States, travel and tourism provides one out of eight jobs, with that number increasing at an exponential rate, adding...

ORANJESTAD, ST. EUSTATIUS—The head of the Caribbean region’s tourism development agency has called for legislation to regulate the disposal of waste in Caribbean waters. Delivering the keynote address at the opening of the 2nd Sustainable Conference in St. Eustatius last month, Hugh Riley, the secretary general of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), said the Caribbean had a responsibility to protect and preserve its water resources.The two day conference, organized by the St. Eustatius Tourism Development Foundation with support from the CTO, had as its theme, “Tourism and Water: Protecting Our Common Future.”Reflecting on the theme, Riley reminded delegates, including...

SYRACUSE, N.Y.—At Destiny USA there’s always a lot of buzz generated around our LEED certification. When we began the expansion, we wanted to continue the commitment to the environment we began when first building Carousel Center in 1990. Now, having just celebrated our one-year anniversary as Destiny USA, we are proud to be recognized not only as a premier shopping center, but as the largest LEED Gold commercial retail building in the world. Yet with all the talk around LEED, many are left wondering what it really means and whether it’s actually beneficial.LEED stands for “Leadership in Energy &...

NEW YORK—A new study presented at the inaugural Global Wellness Tourism Congress (GWTC) found wellness tourism is a near half-trillion dollar market, representing 14 percent of total global tourism revenues ($3.2 trillion) overall. According to The Global Wellness Tourism Economy report, the category is projected to grow on average 9.9 percent annually over the next five years, nearly twice the rate of global tourism overall, reaching $678.5 billion by 2017, or 16 percent of total tourism revenues.The study also noted more than one-half of growth in wellness tourism through 2017 will come from the Asian, Latin American and Middle...