The COVID-19 crisis has certainly made cleaning and disinfection a top of mind topic in the hotel industry and everywhere else. Green Seal has put together an excellent list of resources on how to “Stay Healthy During the COVID-19 crisis.” Be sure to check out their site which includes a "How to Safely Disinfect for Coronavirus" page. Other topic groups include: “Resources for Healthy Homes,” “Resources for Healthy Schools and Workplaces,” “Resources for Green Seal Certified Producers,” “Resources for Green Seal Certified Cleaning Service Providers,” and “Resources from Our Stakeholders.” Under “Resources for Healthy Schools and Workplaces,” there are links...

Greenbuild just released its 2019 Sustainability Report. For those of you not familiar with Greenbuild, it is the world’s largest conference and expo for the green building industry. The report summarizes the environmental impact of the 2019 Greenbuild International Conference & Expo that was held in Atlanta at the Georgia World Congress Center. One of the goals for Greenbuild in 2019 was to move it toward a Zero Waste Event. For the third year in a row Greenbuild achieved TRUE Zero Waste Platinum certification, which is awarded to tradeshows with a TRUE waste diversion rate of 90 percent or...

This guest blog was co-authored by Kim Cheslak of the New Buildings Institute and Lauren Urbanek, Senior Energy Policy Advocate, Climate & Clean Energy Program, NRDC. Better building codes mean lower energy bills, which results in lower costs for consumers and fewer carbon emissions for the planet. Sounds like a winning combination, right? That’s why we were delighted when the initial results of voting on the next national model building energy code indicated an estimated 10 percent improvement in energy efficiency, ensuring delivery on that combination of benefits. Unfortunately, opponents are now trying to reverse that progress. Groups primarily from the...

For the first time, Newsweek and Statista are honoring America’s Most Responsible Companies based on publicly available key performance indicators (KPI’s) derived from CSR Reports, Sustainability Reports, and Corporate Citizenship Reports as well as an independent survey of 6,500 U.S. citizens. The analysis was carried out in a four-phase process, starting with a pool of over 2,000 companies that were screened by different criteria. All the companies that passed the pre-screening (carried out in June 2019) have been analyzed in detail. The independent survey was administered using an online access panel. The survey took an average of 10 minutes...

How do you know what plastic is recyclable and really recycled in the U.S.? I strongly suggest reading a new Greenpeace report entitled, “Circular Claims Fall Flat: Comprehensive U.S. Survey of Plastics Recyclability.” A comprehensive survey of plastic product waste collection, sortation and reprocessing in the U.S. was performed to determine the legitimacy of “recyclable” claims and labels on consumer plastic products. Key results of the survey include: 1. Only some PET #1 and HDPE #2 plastic bottles and jugs can be legitimately labeled as recyclable in the U.S. today. 2. Common plastic pollution items, including single use plastic food service and...

As published in a press release on Green Lodging News, OAG just issued a report entitled, “How Green is Your Airline?” According to the International Council on Clean Transport, aviation accounts for 2.4 percent of global CO2 emissions. With an increasing number of people flying every year, that percentage is not going to go down. “The industry faces the real possibility that it could become a toxic brand within the next decade,” OAG says. The hotel industry of course has a lot at stake if air travel is demonized. One way to address the impact of air travel is through...

Two important dates are coming up in March and April. The first, March 28, is the date for Earth Hour. It will take place from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. local time. The second date, April 22, is Earth Day. This year’s Earth Day is extra special because it is the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day. How will you be marking these two occasions at your property? Started by WWF and partners as a symbolic lights-out event in Sydney in 2007, Earth Hour is now one of the world’s largest grassroots movements for the environment, engaging millions of people...

Back in December I reported on my own experience with hidden hotel fees. I called it greenwashing on a mammoth scale. This past week I discovered a website called Kill Resort Fees. Be sure to check it out. An incredible amount of work has been put into it. Kill Resort Fees was founded by Lauren Wolfe in February 2016 after she travelled to Key West (Doubletree by Hilton Key West) and Miami (Hyatt Centric South Beach) and was told she had to pay resort fees. Wolfe learned that there was no effort entirely devoted to ending hotel drip pricing...

Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2020 Corporate Equality Index is the national benchmarking tool on corporate policies and practices pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer employees. In the 2020 CEI report, 686 major businesses—spanning nearly every industry and geography—earned a top score of 100 and the distinction of “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality.” Hospitality companies earning a top score are IHG, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Choice Hotels International, Hilton, Marriott International Inc., MGM Resorts International, The Walt Disney Co., and Wyndham Destinations. Elie Maalouf, Chief Executive Officer, Americas, IHG, said: “As a company with more than 3,800 hotels...

Last July, Green Lodging News reported the opening of AutoCamp’s Yosemite property. What is different about AutoCamp is its lodging—primarily Airstream trailers. I asked an AutoCamp representative what is uniquely green about AutoCamp. Here are my questions and AutoCamp's replies. What is it about staying in an Airstream trailer that is more eco-responsible than staying in a hotel room?  Our guests use 50 percent less water than a typical hotel guest. This is because of low flow water fixtures, limited hot water capacity, and educational signage throughout the properties. Airstream units require far less impact on the land compared to traditionally built...