According to The Nature Conservancy, approximately 41 million trees are cut down every day—far faster than we are currently replanting them. The consequences of deforestation and other types of land degradation are severe, exacerbating climate change, biodiversity loss, and declines in ecosystem services that hundreds of millions of people depend on. In response, governments around the world have committed to restore 160 million hectares—an area larger than South Africa. But it will take more than government action to execute on these commitments; the private sector has an important role to play, too. That is why I tip my hat today...

Unfortunately, I have written about carbon monoxide deaths in hotels far too often—most recently last November. The past few weeks I have read about two more incidents at hotels. First, in late June, two men were found dead by a third guest staying in the room at the Best Western Hotel in Asheville, N.C. Police suspect the cause of the deaths to be carbon monoxide poisoning. According to an unsealed warrant, Asheville fire chief Shane Mackey suspects a utility room behind the room was the source of the carbon monoxide. The utility room contained two water heaters and two...

Earlier this year in March, Hilton’s Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton by Hilton and All Suites brands launched the Clean the World Challenge in partnership with Clean the World, a global health leader dedicated to sustainability and water, sanitization and health. Embassy Suites by Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton by Hilton, Homewood Suites by Hilton and Home2 Suites by Hilton challenged hotel owners and Team Members to collect bars of soap left behind by guests to be recycled into 1 million bars of new soap by Global Handwashing Day (October 15) for Clean the World to distribute to communities in...

I recently received the latest list of LEED certified hotels from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). I will be writing about the list in my upcoming Publisher’s Point of View column but wanted to offer a few highlights from the list. First, there are a total of 767 projects listed as “lodging” in the USGBC database. Seventy-one projects have been left off the list because the participants have opted to have their projects remain confidential. The list is a global list. Countries represented range from China to the United States to Sweden. There are 51 projects listed as LEED...

I just added another hotel to the “Solar” section of the Renewable Energy All Stars portion of the Green Lodging News website—the Home2 Suites by Hilton San Francisco Airport North. The modular-built hotel is meeting about 50 percent of its electricity needs with its solar panels. The Home2 Suites by Hilton San Francisco Airport North joins a very long list of hotels in North America and beyond that have some type of solar configuration. When you check out the Solar section you will notice that many of the listings include links to not only the hotel’s website but also...

A couple of years ago I took my first cruise out of Tampa, Fla. The week-long experience was fun and relaxing and a great way not to have to worry about cooking my own food or searching around for a restaurant or place to drive to. I would much rather be on a hiking trail in a national park but overall it was a pretty good experience. The ship I chose was a Carnival Corp. ship. Every now and then I read about the good things Carnival is doing to reduce its environmental impact. I recommend visiting the Sustainability page...

I do not know how many Best Western Rewards program members there are, and I have no idea if what one of its members told me is typical, but I thought I would share an e-mail I received from a Green Lodging News reader. The reader is clearly passionate about the environment. “Hello. I am an exclusive Best Western guest and participate in the Best Western Rewards programs. I have achieved the highest elite status level of Diamond Select through actual stays instead of through a status match offered by other chains. I have stayed at 40 to 50 separate...

ADA International, in support of bees, launched a SaveTheBees! Initiative for Earth Day. Since that time the company, a maker of hotel cosmetics for hotels and resorts around the world, has done the following: sprinkled a 12,000 square meter meadow behind the headquarter building with seeds for a bee-food-paradise; distributed packages with bee-friendly flower seeds to associates, so that they can convert their gardens and balconies into a bee-friendly home; and built a hotel for the bees which the company hopes will become a home for the bees frequenting the meadow. The SaveTheBees! Initiative is just part of what ADA...

The national parks in the United States are a huge magnet for tourists—330 million visitors each year—and the lodging industry benefits greatly from them. That is one of the reasons our industry should be concerned when the national parks are not so nice to visit. The National Parks Conservation Assn. recently released its “Polluted Parks” report. The subtitle: “How America is Failing to Protect Our National Parks, People and Planet from Air Pollution.” Be sure to give the report a read. The report assesses the damage from air pollution by evaluating four categories: unhealthy air, harm to nature, hazy...

For those of you not familiar with Hersha Hospitality Trust, it is a real estate investment trust that invests in hotels (48 hotels, 7,644 rooms). The company is organized in Maryland, with its principal office in Harrisburg, Pa. Hersha created its award-winning sustainability program, EarthView, in 2010. Hersha just released its 2018 Sustainability Report. According to Hersha, since 2010 it has seen a $65 million increase in portfolio value thanks to EarthView. It has also experienced $11 million in savings. Compared to 2010, Hersha has seen a 15 percent reduction in energy per square foot, 41 percent reduction in greenhouse...