NATIONAL REPORT—A series of six webinars with topics ranging from water efficiency to green cleaning to window film will launch on March 26 and wrap up on May 21. In total, there will be 18 different presentations throughout the six webinars that are sponsored by the U.S. EPA. The free webinars are being organized by Dan Ruben of Boston Green Tourism and Peter Cooke of the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences. Those who attend all six sessions will be acknowledged with a Certificate of Completion.The following is the schedule for the webinars:Session 1: March 26, 1 p.m to  2:15...

ST. PAUL, MINN.—Ecolab Inc., a global leader in water, hygiene and energy technologies and services, has received a 2014 Climate Leadership Award for excellence in greenhouse gas management. The award, cosponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), recognizes Ecolab for publicly reporting and verifying corporate greenhouse gas inventories and achieving aggressive greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals.“We are serious about the efficiency of our internal operations from both an environmental and an operational perspective,” said Emilio Tenuta, Ecolab Vice President, Corporate Sustainability. “We set meaningful reduction goals, measure progress and are transparent in our reporting. The Climate Leadership Award...

LAS VEGAS—In response to guest demand for healthy travel options, MGM Grand Hotel & Casino and Delos, a pioneer of Wellness Real Estate, recently completed an expansion of the Stay Well room collection and introduced the new Stay Well Lounge, providing Stay Well guests a sanctuary for private registration and relaxation as well as an elevated level of service throughout their stay.Encompassing the hotel’s entire 14th floor, the Stay Well collection now includes 171 rooms and suites, including a Skyline Marquee Suite. These unique accommodations include more than 20 evidence-based health and wellness features which allow guests to maintain...

ANN ARBOR, MICH.—Global public health organization NSF International has launched a new program that helps hotels, resorts and other hospitality settings prevent food and water contamination. The NSF International StaySafer program provides the hospitality industry with a credible means to demonstrate the safety of its food and water to travelers, agencies and hotel rating websites.The NSF StaySafer program combines inspection and testing for both a hotel or resort’s water systems and foodservice operations, which is essential as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that more than 10 million overseas travelers contract illness from food and...

ATLANTA—PURE Solutions, a provider of allergy-friendly hotel rooms, will install 18 new rooms at the JW Marriott Atlanta Buckhead. “The JW Marriott brand provides a strong emphasis on health and wellness, from locally sourced and organic cuisine to our state-of-the-art fitness center,” said General Manager, Mike Giamundo. “We believe PURE Rooms will enhance that experience for visitors to Buckhead.”PURE Rooms are treated according to a patented seven-step process that kills and protects against 98 to 100 percent of viruses, bacteria and other harmful surface and airborne irritants. PURE technology creates a hypoallergenic environment that is more comfortable for asthma...

DALLAS—The Ellis Hotel, downtown Atlanta’s premier boutique hotel, recently converted an entire floor to feature exclusively Beyond by Aerus allergy-friendly rooms. Well known for its private-access women-only floor, the hotel now offers a second private-access floor offering allergy-friendly rooms by implementing the Beyond by Aerus purification process. This patent-pending system includes 15 unique treatment programs. The Ellis Hotel partnered with Beyond by Aerus to provide a solution for travelers that suffer from allergies and asthma. Every Beyond by Aerus room features ActivePure technology that works constantly to provide the highest levels of protection against airborne and surface contaminants. ActivePure is based...

ORLANDO, FLA.—The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) has launched the Charter for Sustainable Cleaning, a voluntary initiative to promote and demonstrate continual improvement in the cleaning products industry’s sustainability profile. The Charter was unveiled during the ACI’s 2014 Annual Meeting & Industry Convention.The Charter, which is designed to go beyond basic legal requirements, provides a framework for driving the industry toward common sustainability goals. It requires companies to have systems in place for continual assessment, review, and improvement of sustainability performance, including raw material selection, resource use, and occupational health and safety, at every important stage of the product lifecycle.“By...

GURNEE, ILL.—KeyLime Cove Indoor Waterpark Resort has been honored with the StayGreen designation from the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association (IHLA) for its continued efforts to proactively use eco-friendly products and services to reduce its impact on the environment.IHLA’s StayGreen designation standards are extensive and specific. Environmentally friendly efforts outlined in the StayGreen questionnaire include efforts such as recycling and waste management programs, the use of Energy Star products throughout guestrooms and hotel, the use of only non-phosphate, nontoxic, biodegradable concentrated cleaning products and laundry detergent, and consumable paper products made from recycled fibers, such as tissue, napkins, paper...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes umf Corp. as a Green Product & Service Directory partner. The company’s PerfectCLEAN patented color coded, ONEperROOM system of high performance textiles, wipers, sponges, tube mops, flat mops and ergonomically designed hardware achieve a healthier guest environment and are proven to support increased guest satisfaction scores.PerfectCLEAN combines performance, increased productivity and waste reduction with significant cost savings. Developed for hospital infection prevention programs, PerfectCLEAN’s training and expertise has now been adopted by all leading hotel brands. PerfectCLEAN supports sustainability programs, including LEED certification—ensuring a safer guest and...

NATIONAL REPORT—Not so long ago, the solution for dealing with a hotel pest infestation was to “call the exterminator,” conjuring up cartoony images of a man with a poison-pump, misting unknown chemicals into the air of the business, chasing out customers and pests with the plume. For hotels in New York, where daily business activity is critical for the financial health of the business, this kind of thing could be devastating, but we live in a different world today. Now, safety and health are first and foremost in the mind of any pest control professional. Modern pest control methods...