SAN FRANCISCO—LOLIWARE, the SEA Technology creator, announced that they have developed the first seaweed pellet created from natural biomaterials to replace plastic at scale. The company has partnered with American manufacturer Sinclair and Rush to scale production with a leading plastic-free, high-performing seaweed straw for businesses of all sizes. This announcement is significant because it is the first U.S. production of onshore, seaweed-based product replacements and is an alternative to outsourcing plastics from China—a needed step toward reducing plastic in landfills and oceans. Seaweed captures 5 to 20 times more carbon than land-based forests per unit area, including permanently storing some of it...

NEW HAVEN, CONN.—Hotel Marcel New Haven, Tapestry Collection by Hilton will soon make history as what is believed will be the first net-zero hotel in the United States. The revolutionary hotel will utilize renewable solar power sources on site to generate the electricity needed for its common areas, restaurant, laundry, meeting rooms and 165 guestrooms and suites. Set to debut this spring, the all-electric hotel is currently accepting reservations for May 19, 2022, and beyond. Hotel Marcel New Haven will operate independent of fossil fuels, resulting in zero carbon emissions. It is also expected to be the first Passive House-certified hotel...

MONTEVERDE, COSTA RICA—Hotel Belmar, a family owned and operated boutique hotel that is a leader in responsible tourism, launched a new carbon negative initiative that encourages guests to participate in the Offset Your Footprint program by matching all donations. Created by the Monteverde Community Fund, the program offsets the impact of tourism, growth, and environmental changes by equipping the community of Monteverde, where Hotel Belmar is located, for challenges associated with change by planting and protecting trees and the local biodiversity as well as preserving water in the region, to name a few. “Since opening our doors more than 35 years ago,...

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN—With a shared mission of eliminating plastic waste and providing safe, ultra-purified and great-tasting drinking water, Stockholm-based Bluewater, and Denver, Colorado-based FloWater announced their merger. The two corporations say the merger will help accelerate innovation of new drinking water purification products, drive expansion into new markets, and achieve economies of scale in manufacturing and supply chain efficiencies in a post-Covid world. Bluewater was founded in 2013 By Swedish environmental entrepreneur Bengt Rittri on the sale of his previous indoor air purification corporation, Blueair, to consumer goods giant Unilever. Today, Bluewater has grown into a global innovator of market leader water...

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN—Every year, more than 300 billion plastic lids—1.5 million tons of plastic—are produced. Many of them end up as litter in the world’s oceans. A Swedish collaboration between three innovative companies at the forefront of sustainability—PulPac, Liplid and MAX Burgers—is now leading the way towards replacing the traditional plastic lid with a sustainable fiber-based alternative. As announced earlier, MAX Burgers, the first quick service restaurant chain in the world to label and compensate for the food’s impact on the environment, will start to roll out the Liplid in all their restaurants in Sweden this year. “This has been a fantastic project, where we...

At the La Quinta Resort & Club in La Quinta, Calif., attention is paid to the environment not only on Earth Day but throughout the year. On this Earth Day eve, the resort is planning a five-course plant-based dinner using fresh produce and ingredients sourced from the Coachella Valley. The meal will be served at Morgan’s in the Desert, La Quinta Resort & Club’s signature fine-dining restaurant. Based entirely on the local bounty of the surrounding area, the tasting menu will take guests and locals alike on a plant-based culinary journey around the Coachella Valley, highlighting the abundance of greens...

BOSTON—Bevi, a beverage technology company that offers a suite of smart water coolers for commercial spaces, has announced the launch of its new water dispenser. Bevi’s Standup 2.0 allows users to customize filtered and sparkling water in seconds by setting temperature, carbonation level, and combinations of natural flavors and enhancements. As consumers and corporations grow increasingly environmentally conscious, they are taking steps to reduce their use of single-use packaging. Bevi was founded in 2013 to enable a permanent transition away from single-use bottles and cans by offering high quality filtered, sparkling, and naturally flavored water on tap. Since then, thousands...

BERKELEY, CALIF.—To further reduce its use of single-use plastic packaging, PepsiCo has agreed to set a time-bound goal by the end of 2022 for a percent of volume of beverages to be delivered via strategies that avoid or minimize single-use packaging. These strategies will include reusable and refillable bottles or containers, beverages that utilize concentrates such as fountain drinks, prepare at home beverages (such as its SodaStream subsidiary), or beverages sold in powder or drop form. The pledge was made in response to a shareholder proposal filed by As You Sow, asking the company to report on actions it could take to rapidly...

BALTIMORE—Vulcan, a leading provider of commercial cooking equipment, announced that Meghan Hurst has been promoted to Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Vulcan. This promotion comes at a strategic time for Vulcan as it continues to further enhance the customer experience. Hurst has been with Vulcan for almost eight years. She has held marketing roles with increasing responsibility and most recently served as Marketing Director where she developed and led a team comprised of marketers, chefs, and market segment managers. She has deep market knowledge and is passionate about crafting and executing brand, product, and category management strategies. “Meghan’s analytical nature...

BUFFALO, N.Y.—With much of the pandemic in the rearview mirror, Buffalo, N.Y.-based Delaware North is continuing to build on its long-standing commitment to grow GreenPath, the company’s robust stewardship platform that has been in place since the 1990s. The key branches of GreenPath include environmental management, community involvement, facilities & asset protection, healthy living, and interpretation and education. “Delaware North’s GreenPath program is very much at the heart of our company’s culture,” says Debbie Friedel, Corporate Director of Sustainability for Delaware North. “It remains a driving force thanks to our leaders and caring associates who put ideas into action.” For its...