WASHINGTON, D.C.—Fresh produce, locally sourced ingredients, herbs grown onsite—and a little bit of sunlight. These are the tools that Chef Josh Murray uses to create five-star dishes at SUMMIT the Rooftop at Conrad Washington D.C., a restaurant that’s making strides toward becoming a zero-waste kitchen. Working with pure and natural ingredients comes easy to Murray, who grew up on a farm in Spotsylvania, Va. He was raised dining on local ingredients—many from his own backyard. His appreciation for the healthy qualities that locally sourced produce can offer is just one of the factors that make Murray perfect to helm the eco-conscious cooking efforts...

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CALIF.—Soul Community Planet (SCP) announced the acquisition of the 41-room, beachfront Laguna Riviera Beach Resort. The historic Laguna Beach hotel marks SCP’s first expansion into California, and its sixth hotel overall. The acquisition advances SCP’s plan to expand its footprint into communities that align with SCP’s healthy, kind, green values. Opened in 1948, the Laguna Riviera is located directly on the beach just two blocks south of Downtown Laguna Beach. Described as a part French Riviera and part Mediterranean retreat, the resort boasts scenic coastal views, direct access to surfing and stand-up paddle boarding, and features a variety of...

LITTLE ROCK, ARK.—Westrock Coffee Co. announced their pledge to responsibly source 100 percent of the company’s coffee and tea by 2025. This supports their foundational sustainability strategy and commitment to purchase and process all products in a manner that is fair to the people who grow and handle it, their employees, peers, and environments. “We are excited to continue the sustainability journey that started 12 years ago with a small exporting business in Rwanda. While our hands-on approach to working with our farmer partners and customers remains the same, we are humbled by the opportunity to expand this across 173...

NATIONAL REPORT—Nearly half of the United States population, 150 million American adults, are coffee drinkers. Now think about the cups. Unless you’re drinking your brew at home, you’re likely picking up your java in a paper cup to go. And that’s the problem across the world: nearly 16 billion paper to-go cups are used every year, which leads to 6.5 million trees being cut down and 4 billion gallons of water being wasted. The inside of most paper to-go cups is also coated in a thin layer of plastic, making them unrecyclable. With these issues in mind, many places, ranging from small...

HENDERSON, KY.—The Envi Boutique Hotel, located in Henderson, Kentucky, is proof that an old, tired hotel that has seen its share of flags can not only survive but thrive as a shiny, totally renovated green hotel striving to be greener. According to Kiran Patel, owner of the property, the 54-room hotel was first opened in 1967 as a full-service Holiday Inn. It later was converted to a Best Western and finally two other brands before being renovated into the Envi Boutique Hotel in June of this year. “In 1994 we purchased the property and was with Super 8 for 23.5...

PHILADELPHIA—Steeped Coffee, a Certified B Corp, was announced as the NEXTY Awards Winner for “Best New Product” for its French Roast Fair Trade Organic Breakwater Blend. Steeped Coffee was honored as the “Best New Tea or Coffee” by the coveted NEXTY Awards, announced at the annual Natural Products Expo East in Philadelphia. Steeped is showcasing its single-serve Steeped Brewing Method and Guilt-Free Packaging in Booth No. 1214 at the expo September 23 to 25. Brewed like tea, fully compostable Steeped Packs require no machines or specialty brewing equipment and are quickly becoming the sustainable standard in single-serve coffee. Nearly 600 products competed in the NEXTY Awards this year. The...

CINCINNATI—Cintas Corp. announced its ambition to achieve Net Zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. The company is also in the midst of a comprehensive, enterprise-wide review of its business model as it relates to environmental, social and governance (ESG) opportunities, improvements, and efficiencies. Cintas has been built on sustainable business practices, and the continuous improvement of its sustainability measures has been key to the company’s operational success over the years. As its business review continues for the next 12 to 18 months, Cintas expects to better define its ESG journey, including identifying strategies to reduce its Scope 1 and 2...

KAWASAKI CITY, JAPAN—In any conversation about green hotels, one of the hotels that deserves a lot of time is the Kawasaki King Skyfront Tokyu REI Hotel in Kawasaki City, Japan. The 186-room property is run by 100 percent renewable energy. Thirty percent of the energy is derived from hydrogen. Seventy percent of the energy is derived from food waste generated renewable energy. Since transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy the hotel has saved more than $15,000 per year. To generate hydrogen, used plastics (household plastic trash plus hotel amenities) are sent to Showa Denko K.K.’s hydrogen production facility where they...

CINCINNATI—Hydro Systems, a world leader in delivering chemical dispensing and dosing solutions, has released its Connected Total Eclipse Controller, an IoT-enabled version of Hydro’s most popular electronic controller designed for on-premise laundries with up to four washers. It leverages the Hydro Connect platform and a cellular gateway to provide greater visibility and cost savings through on-demand reporting. “The Connected Total Eclipse Controller expands the capability of our cost-effective, secure and easy-to-use laundry dispensing systems. This gives managers real-time access to operational data to help them run the site more efficiently,” said John Goetz, Global Product Manager, Hydro Systems. The Connected Total Eclipse Controller can be added to most Hydro laundry dispensers, including the LM-200 peristaltic pumps or EvoClean, and it delivers critical site data with real-time or historical reporting on productivity, chemical usage, costs and alarms through Hydro Connect. Automating reporting simplifies processes and helps managers avoid alarm...

ROHNERT PARK, CALIF.—World Centric announced that it has expanded its NoTree collection of 100 percent tree-free, bio-based and compostable packaging with 17 new products. Now available across North America, the expanded range provides more sustainable alternatives to traditional disposable foodservice ware for operators. As with all items in the NoTree collection, the new product additions are made of renewable plant fibers like bamboo and sugarcane with bio-based moisture barrier linings instead of petroleum plastic. They are also heat lamp tolerant, warming oven friendly, and are suitable for hot or cold foods. All NoTree items are 100 percent compostable in...