NATIONAL REPORT—Hotels around the planet are lining up activities for Earth Hour. The annual event will take place on Saturday, March 19 at 8:30 p.m. local time. The Earth Hour global initiative, now in its 10th year, aims to raise awareness about climate change and the need to find solutions to the world’s environmental problems. Las Vegas Sands, IBEROSTAR Hotels & Resorts, and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide are a few of the companies with properties participating this year.Sands ECO360°, the global corporate sustainability program of Las Vegas Sands (LVS), is launching its fourth annual “I Will If You...

INWOOD, N.Y.—Commercial laundry equipment provider Laundrylux recently hired Robert Tudisco as its new Vice President of Technical Care and Training. Over the last 15 years, Tudisco has held a variety of technical leadership positions in several service industries that range from textile rental services, to facility critical power infrastructure support and data center infrastructure support services.“Ours is an industry that continues to grow in terms of technology, and with the addition of Robert to our team, we have a leader who will make certain that Laundrylux employees stay informed and ahead of the curve,” said Gary Brown, Vice President...

NEWARK, N.J.—AeroFarms, an indoor, aeroponic farm has grown more than 250 varieties of leafy greens and herbs with consistency and flavor, selling to a wide range of customers including chefs and restaurants. Based in Newark, N.J., AeroFarms serves the New York metro area, using its own unique aeroponic growing system to give leafy greens the perfect environment for uniform and predictable growth. Then they carefully manage that environment, from a proprietary nutrient mist to custom-designed LED lighting, to elevate the flavor and texture of each variety with pinpoint accuracy. Each AeroFarms harvest is monitored with 30,000 data points around...

BOSTON—Imagine a world where restaurants could find the greenest products and most sustainable food from their own distributors. Imagine if these distributors only listed the green products that meet the Green Restaurant Association’s (GRA) environmental standards, and that each product on that list was vetted by the Green Restaurant Association’s team of restaurant sustainability consultants. Imagine that each product would list the environmental standard it meets, along with its GreenPoints score. That world is now here. Up until now, it could be difficult for restaurateurs to find the green products they could rely upon to both work and have a...

NATIONAL REPORT—In an age when locavores rule, trash fish dinners are the new chic, and foodie tourism is trending, it is the perfect time for hotel chefs to enhance their properties’ narrative and take on the issue of food waste. What was hot and trending in 2015? Food waste reduction according to 1,300 chefs surveyed by the National Restaurant Assn. The growing counter culture to food waste is so widespread the Association’s annual What’s Hot List placed food waste reduction right behind hyper local sourcing in their Top Twenty Trends. Food waste is a global problem, but 40 percent of the...

OSHKOSH, WIS.—Continental Girbau Inc. recently added the new 70-pound capacity G-Flex Washer to its most advanced line of hard-mount flexible-speed washers. The G-Flex line now includes 40-, 55-, and 70-pound capacity models. Superior programmability, including G-force, brings premium program and process flexibility to laundries at an affordable price point, according to Joel Jorgensen, Continental Vice President of Sales and Customer Services.“G-Flex Washers deliver the flexibility of six programmable extract speeds, including 100, 140 and 200 G-force, at an affordable value,” said Jorgensen. “There are other washers on the market that offer flexible G-force, but they are typically more expensive,...

THE MALDIVES—Soneva Fushi, the multi award-winning luxury resort in the Maldives, which has implemented numerous projects to reduce their impact on the environment, recently joined hands with LightBlue Environmental Consulting to implement a food waste audit, to understand and address the problem of food waste that affects the entire hospitality industry and to reinforce its position as global leader in sustainability.The United Nations recently put food waste reduction as one of their most urgent goals to reach and countries all over the world are beginning to realize the true negative impact of food waste with the United States planning...

OSHKOSH, WIS.—Continental Girbau Inc. recently unveiled a new website featuring OnePress Ironing Systems. The improved website is mobile friendly, simple to navigate, graphically appealing, content rich and search engine optimized, according to OnePress Marketing Communications Director Tari Martin.“The site clearly defines OnePress ironing products, which are engineered for medium- and high-volume laundries across North America,” she said. Site visitors will also find product brochures, warranty bonds and technical specifications. “OnePress ironers are highlighted,” said Martin, “including the Z-Series Heated-Roll Ironer and the Compact 5-in-One, which feeds, irons, folds, stacks and accumulates.”Each OnePress system delivers superior quality and productivity from...

MANCHESTER, N.H.—Xeros, innovator of an ultra-low water laundry system, announced that it has signed a deal with New York City-based eLaundry.com in excess of a million dollars for Xeros’ award-winning polymer bead cleaning laundry systems which are proven to dramatically reduce water, energy, and detergent consumption while providing a gentler and superior clean. To promote the new Xeros laundry services, eLaundry.com will introduce Xeros as an ingredient brand in their storefront, on delivery vehicles and throughout the business.eLaundry.com provides on-demand laundry service to consumers and commercial customers in New York City such as hotels, spas, salons, colleges and universities,...

ST. PAUL, MINN.—Hotels need to properly clean their jetted tubs, dishwashers and washing machines from the effects of biofilm and the contaminants biofilm growth promotes in these appliances. Hotels use and rely upon a battery of jetted tubs, dishwashers and washing machines to run their businesses. Mounting scientific evidence suggests that these appliances (and, more specifically, the improper design and/or cleaning of these appliances) are among several primary hosts of contaminants that get and/or keep hotel patrons sick. A whopping 80 percent of microbial infections in the human body are related to biofilm. Common infectious problems directly related to biofilm include:...