PHOENIX—On Friday, June 26, Dover Downs Hotel and Casino, located in Dover, Delaware, became the 700th lodging property to complete iStayGreen.org’s online self-audit. The hotel and casino earned a 4 Green Eco-Leaf Rating. The eco-rating allows the public to know the specific environmental initiatives in place at a property.
Properties complete the comprehensive online self-audit and earn a Green Eco-Leaf Rating ranging from one to five Eco-Leafs with 5 Green Eco-Leafs being the highest level attainable. Ratings are based on environmental initiatives in place at the property. Only 14 properties have earned the 5 Green Eco-Leaf Rating thus far; eight in the United States and one in each of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Canada, and Ecuador.
More than half of the properties completing the self-audit fairly evenly divide between 2 and 3 Eco-Leafs on the green rating scale. The Green Eco-Leaf Ratings break down as follows: 8 percent 4 Eco-Leafs, 30 percent 3 Eco-Leafs, 36 percent 2 Eco-Leafs, and 24 percent 1 Eco-Leaf. While the highest percentage of “green” lodging is located in the United States, more than one-fifth of the iStayGreen.org audited properties are located outside the United States.
“iStayGreen.org helps several thousand unique visitors daily find and book environmentally friendly hotels and is continuing to experience dramatic growth,” says Richard Varner, founder of iStayGreen.org. “Today alone 20 new properties were awarded the Green Eco-Leaf Rating. At our current rate of growth it is anticipated that before the end of summer more than 1,000 properties ranging from bed & breakfasts to luxury spa resorts will have received their Green Eco-Leaf Rating.
Go to istaygreen.org.
