America’s feelings about global warming and its threat to our planet clearly shifted dramatically in 2007. Once ignored by the masses, it has become a mainstream issue driving millions of consumers to find out how they can live a more eco-friendly existence. That momentum is the impetus behind a new wave of consumer marketing. From Wal-Mart’s goal of selling one million compact fluorescent light bulbs in a year to Home Depot’s new Eco Options line of products, the race for green market share is on. That trend has only continued in service industries like lodging and hospitality, where many...

In a previous column (click here), I detailed what you need to know to write an effective “green” press release. Once you have done that (really, an essential part of an effective public relations campaign), it’s time to make it come to life. It’s not “alive” until it gets picked up as a story in a media vehicle (publication, TV story, etc.). That is when the true fun begins. Here are some things to consider when pitching: 1. Once you determine your press contacts and bloggers, call these people and explain your story idea and why you believe they should...

Design elements cannot be overvalued in the hospitality industry. Carpet contributes to the signature impression, adding comfort to small spaces and human scale to imposing interiors. When specifying carpet for hospitality, there are three considerations to ensure sustainable selections—design and purpose; maintenance during useful life; and end-of-life options. Where do you start and what do you ask? Fortunately the carpet industry has removed the angst from the green certification process. Now a single standard identifies carpets that have a reduced environmental impact. The first multi-attribute American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approved Standard—NSF 140-2007, Sustainable Carpet Assessment Standard was introduced at...

Energy is headline news and the pressure to affect savings is mounting. Balancing how best to maintain guest comfort with the drive for more efficient guestroom energy management is an ongoing challenge, despite the fact that guests are becoming more tolerant of greener energy measures. This conflict between guest comfort and property savings is compounded by the rapid increases in heating and cooling costs. This forces hotels to tackle the issue of cutting energy consumption and is encouraging utilities to recognize the potential within hospitality to achieve energy savings. Creative incentive programs are spurring the installation of guestroom energy management...

Business Week recently published an eye catching story on “Little Green Lies”—why some environmental initiatives may not currently make economic sense, even if others do. But what are the real economics behind green hotel development, conversion and operation? Is this the time to go green? Can you afford to wait? Here are some solidly documented answers based on substantial and reliable studies. The answers may surprise you. What Does a Pragmatist Say About This? A few friends who know me well as the “ultimately pragmatic” hotel lawyer asked me why I have jumped onto the green bandwagon for hotel development, conversion,...

A press release is one of the best techniques for publicizing an event or calling attention to a specific issue, your product or service. A well-written, well-distributed and well-timed press release is not difficult or expensive to produce. The key to writing an effective press release is getting it read and the information published. With these objectives in mind, the most important elements of a press release are clear and engaging text, careful selection of recipients, and good timing. When you add “green” into the mix, you should keep in mind the following essentials to getting your release noticed: 1. The...

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may soon be pushing the green bandwagon. Technically, most SEC disclosure guidelines or rules only require “disclosure.” They do not impose substantive regulation. But SEC guidelines tend to set the disclosure standards for state laws, and establish industry standards for fair disclosure. And frequently the bright spotlight of disclosure focuses such intense attention on particular issues, that it changes behavior as effectively as a substantive regulation. That might well become the case with “green.” Here is what is happening: Investors and government officials are urging the SEC to adopt guidelines requiring public companies to...

There’s an aftershock rippling across the country and it’s starting in California. No, it’s not from an earthquake, but it does involve the planet. After the initial jolt that Al Gore delivered with An Inconvenient Truth, California lawmakers addressed global warming head on by enacting the first piece of legislation in the country to directly mandate reductions of greenhouse gases (GHG) linked to climate change. The effects are being felt nationwide. In fact, industry worldwide is feeling the impact of climate change, and those in the hotel business, whether they want to or not, are taking notice. Last year, California...

One of the legacies of the Industrial Revolution is the introduction of cleaning chemicals into the marketplace. Since WWII, more than 75,000 industrial chemicals have been registered with the EPA. Of those, less than 2 percent have been tested for toxicity, birth defects, and cancer. Moreover, chemical companies are under no legal or regulatory obligation to study the long term health effects their products have on the human body, nor are they required to fully disclose all of the ingredients in their products. Citing proprietary privilege, they only report on active ingredients. This accounts for less than 5 percent...

You may be on a tight budget or just looking to create renewed exposure and interest for your green hotel or B&B efforts, yet cannot seem to find anything newsworthy to report. We’ve all encountered that from time to time. Don’t worry; there is still hope. There are hundreds of ways for you to create some news of your own to get the exposure you need. Here are some of them: Stage a green event. For those of you who are unfamiliar with doing this, you may think it sounds difficult. With a little creativity and proper planning, you can pull...