SANTA CRUZ, CALIF.—Santa Cruz-based startup Steeped, Inc. has launched its revolutionary Steeped Coffee brewing method to serious coffee drinkers across the nation. Brewed similar to tea, Steeped Coffee’s nitro sealed Steeped Bags, along with their guilt-free packaging made using renewable and compostable materials, achieve the unthinkable: freshly ground specialty coffee in a single-serving. That is why it earned the “Best New Product” award for their innovative packaging at the recent Specialty Coffee Expo. Steeped Coffee launched when serial entrepreneur and coffee lover Josh Wilbur decided to combine the convenience of a single-serving brew method with the premium quality of ethically...

PALMA, SPAIN—Iberostar Hotels & Resorts is a hotel chain with more than 120 four- and five-star hotels, located in the most popular holiday destinations in Europe, Africa, and America. The Iberostar hotel portfolio offers customers beachfront hotels, city hotels and heritage hotels. In addition, there is the Grand category, the highest level of luxury and excellence. Iberostar’s Wave of Change movement is an initiative based on three complementary but different action lines: eliminating the consumption of single-use plastics, promoting responsible seafood consumption and the improvement of coastal health. Leading Iberostar’s work under the Wave of Change movement is Dr....

Years ago I had a trip that took me from the United States to Iceland to Denmark. I must have come close to flying over the Faroe Islands. They are located about halfway between Iceland and Norway and are an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. I come across quite a few new and cool green hotel projects each week—even during this pandemic—and the Hilton Garden Inn Faroe Islands was one that caught my eye. It opened last October. I recently corresponded with Kate Mikesell, VP Corporate Responsibility, Hilton, and Martin Restorff, General Manager of the hotel, to learn...

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND—Girbau, a world leader in comprehensive professional laundry solutions for the industrial, commercial and vended sectors, announces it will offer HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03, an antiviral and antimicrobial textile technology, that can be applied to industrial laundry services for its clients across the healthcare, hospitality and food manufacturing sectors, where hygiene and safety are paramount. Consorci Hospitalari de Vic (Barcelona) has been on boarded and already started treating their laundry using HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03. HeiQ and Girbau also plan to offer solutions to public launderettes, bringing branded HeiQ Viroblock dispensers to consumers. Swiss textile technology HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03 is among...

ATLANTA—The Coca-Cola Company announced in the United States the introduction of a new 13.2oz bottle made from 100 percent recycled plastic material (rPET)*. This new bottle will be available first in the company’s biggest and most iconic brand: Coca-Cola. In addition, the company announced in the U.S. the transition to bottles made from 100 percent recycled plastic material* across a selection of brands in the portfolio, including DASANI and smartwater, which will be available in various package sizes this year. The moves are a substantial step in addressing plastic waste, among the top environmental concerns globally, reducing the company’s...

BANGKOK—The Six Senses Botanique has joined the Six Senses portfolio. This emerald gem is located 2.5 hours from São Paulo and 3.5 hours from Rio de Janeiro. It lies at the confluence of three river valleys in the heart of the Mantiqueira Mountains, known as the “mountains that weep” due to the abundance of springs and rivers. For Six Senses Botanique, however, there is plenty to be happy about. After three months of training centered around the Six Senses brand standards and values, hosts cannot wait to showcase out-of-the-ordinary experiences and emotional hospitality, with the Six Senses integrated pillars of...

AMSTERDAM—As part of its Environmentally Conscious Design (ECD) philosophy, gategroup company deSter has entered a strategic partnership with PulPac, a Swedish Research & Development and Intellectual Property company. Together they will focus on the development and manufacturing of fiber-based, single-use food packaging products for the airline and food service industries. By working with PulPac and its new production technology, deSter will accelerate the development of naturally compostable fiber-based products. This will enable deSter to extend its portfolio of sustainable food packaging and service solutions. PulPac’s Dry Molded Fiber technology is an innovative technology that can be used to manufacture almost any...

NEW YORK—The TreadRight Foundation, The Travel Corporation’s (TTC) not-for-profit, has added two new partnerships to the 55-plus projects it supports through its planet, people and wildlife pillars. Green Bronx Machine in New York and Flourish Forever in Los Angeles, California, are TreadRight’s first project partners in the United States and are both dedicated to addressing issues of food insecurity in some of the country’s most underserved communities. On opposite coasts, both organizations are family-run and based on the belief that the foundation for community empowerment, equality, and resilience includes access to fresh, affordable and healthy food. TreadRight has partnered with...

TUSCALOOSA, ALA.—Performance Food Group, and pizza box manufacturer, WestRock are working together to deliver Sustainable Choices—a pizza box recycling educational program—to pizza box customers, and pizza consumers across the United States. The foundation of this project is a WestRock study, which was reviewed and endorsed by members of the American Forest & Paper Assn. The study was designed to determine whether grease or cheese contamination levels typically associated with pizza boxes, impact the finished product quality of the corrugated cardboard. Conclusions from the study state corrugated pizza boxes can be recycled with normal levels of residual grease and cheese. Additionally, a consumer...

BUENA VISTA, FLA.—Eight decades after McDonald’s restaurant revolutionized a speedier way to prepare and serve meals, the fast-food giant is once again setting new standards in the industry, laying the groundwork for a more ecologically responsible place to dine. The façade of the 8,000-square-foot McDonald’s at Disney World in Buena Vista, Fla., not only appears strikingly different than its traditional restaurant chain, but every segment of the building has been meticulously designed to create the world’s first “net-zero” fast food restaurant. “It’s McDonald’s goal to reduce its carbon emissions across its portfolio,” said Jean Gibbons, WSP USA Buildings Vice President. “McDonald’s...