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News Blog

The News Blog gives Glenn Hasek, publisher and editor of Green Lodging News, an opportunity to comment, in just a few paragraphs, on industry news and trends. A more condensed version of Publisher’s Point of View, the News Blog is updated on either Wednesday or Thursday each week. Want to step in as a guest blogger? Or, have some news to share for the News Blog? To contact Glenn Hasek, call (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at: greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.

News Blog

Home News Blog
The News Blog gives Glenn Hasek, publisher and editor of Green Lodging News, an opportunity to comment, in just a few paragraphs, on industry news and trends. A more condensed version of Publisher’s Point of View, the News Blog is updated on either Wednesday or Thursday each week. Want to step in as a guest blogger? Or, have some news to share for the News Blog? To contact Glenn Hasek, call (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at: greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.

Research Proves Tendency for Virus to Cling to Bed Linens

When cleaning your guestrooms after a guest has left pay special attention to the linens. In case you missed it, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month released the results of some Chinese researchers indicating significant spread of the Coronavirus on sheets and pillow cases by presymptomatic travelers—a very good reason not to used shake linens upon removal from a bed. The researchers studied two travelers who had been transferred to a hotel for a 14-day quarantine. They stayed at the hotel for just one night before being transferred to a hospital after symptoms began to appear. Approximately three...

California Guide Offers New Meeting Best Practices

Different companies and associations have been implementing programs to help bring back meetings to their hotels. The CEO of Wynn Resorts recently talked about creating safe zones. The California Hotel and Lodging Association just released its “Clean + Safe Guidance for Meetings and Events,” providing COVID-19 health safety protocols for California hotels as they prepare to reopen for individual meetings and events. The Guidance incorporates recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the California Department of Public Health and Cal/OSHA and is aligned with CHLA’s guidelines for individual travel that was issued in April. The 11-page Guidance focuses on...

Which Countries Are Best Handling Waste Management

RAJA, Europe’s No. 1 packaging supplier, recently studied which countries are winning the war on municipal waste—an important study given that global waste is predicted to grow by 70 percent as soon as 2050. RAJA explored the municipal waste of 29 countries over five years to find out how they handle their waste, and whether they have been able to reduce it year-on-year. You can check out the study yourself here but here is what I found to be interesting: The world leader in recovered waste is currently Switzerland, recovering 100 percent of their municipal waste. However, this is...

Montalba Architects Completes Eco-Chalets in Switzerland

Montalba Architects, the Santa Monica, Calif. and Switzerland-based architecture firm, recently completed three new Swiss projects, including newly imagined accommodations for the hospitality-concept, Whitepod. The new Whitepod eco-chalets, which are ideal for group and family travel, are equipped with modern conveniences and minimalist, sustainable design that allows the alpine landscape to take center stage. “Heritage and craftsmanship are at the heart of design, so we give considerable attention to making sure local, timeless materials are incorporated into each project to create a continuation of a user’s experience with both the space and the region as a whole,” says Founding Principal...

Can Lodging Learn Lessons from Walmart?

Can the lodging industry learn a few lessons from Walmart? So far there has not been a lot of zero emissions goal setting in our industry at the company level. A search on Green Lodging News produced an article from 2017 that details the plan of Vail Resorts, Inc. It has committed to zero net emissions by 2030. In the last two weeks Walmart announced a target of zero emissions across its company’s global operations by 2040. Walmart also announced it had committed to help protect, manage or restore at least 50 million acres of land and one million...

The Plight of the Housekeeper in a COVID-Changing World

It was a little more than 11 years ago that I first wrote about the “Make a Green Choice” program that had been rolled out at a couple of hotels in Seattle and Kauai. For those of you not familiar with Make a Green Choice, it gave guests the option of opting out of housekeeping for a day or more. At the time, in exchange for doing that, guests were given either a $5 gift card for the hotel’s restaurants or the option of receiving 500 Starpoints as part of Starwood’s loyalty program. I applauded the program at the...

Technology Goes Beyond Just Guest Temperature Reading

Temperature is but one of the measurements for determining whether a guest or employee is ill with COVID-19. That is why it should not be relied on entirely for any diagnosis. In looking for technology that tells you more than temperature, you may want to check out a company called binah.ai LTD. Its contactless app technology enables the extraction of a large set of vital signs and mental stress measurements based on the analysis of a video taken with any device equipped with a camera (smartphone, tablet, kiosk, in-car camera and many more). Binah.ai’s solution applies a unique mix...

State, City Green Lodging Programs March On

One of the challenges in running a website by yourself is keeping the content current. One area of my site I check each year is the State & City Green Lodging Programs page. That section shrunk a bit this past year with the elimination of the link for an Arizona Green Lodging program and a program for hotels in Annapolis, Md. With any online search I conducted, I could not find those programs. The remaining programs in 20 states and three cities appear to be going strong but I am sure they were impacted dramatically by the pandemic. I...

Access to a ‘Complete Guide to Electronic Waste Recycling’

I often hear from organizations writing with the intention of sharing valuable information about a topic of relevance to all of us. This past week I heard from PCLiquidations.com. They shared their Complete Guide to Electronic Waste Recycling with me. Click here to check it out. According to PCLiquidations.com, Electronics is becoming one of the fastest-growing solid waste streams in the world. As devices become more accessible and affordable, more and more of these items go into landfills. According to DoSomething.org, the United States is the biggest contributor of e-waste annually. Americans throw away 9.4 million tons of used electronics...

Accor Requires Face Coverings for Guests Across North & Central America

Is it just me or shouldn’t have Accor already done this for guests and visitors? Global hospitality leader Accor announced that effective immediately, all guests and visitors at Accor properties across North & Central America are required to wear face coverings in all indoor public spaces to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. Accor employees have already been required to wear masks, in addition to other preventive measures implemented as part of the Group’s global ALLSAFE cleanliness label and the region’s ‘ALL Safe & Well’ wellbeing platform. “We remain deeply committed to taking the necessary steps to protect the health and...