Late last month, Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts, Singapore, announced a pledge against single-use plastic. The premium hotel operator and developer will implement a plan for all its properties to phase out the use of disposable plastics by Earth Day 2019. This will include plastic straws, plastic water bottles and disposable plastic cutlery. Sudima Hotels & Resorts, with properties throughout New Zealand, is advancing its sustainability journey by setting the goal of becoming single-use plastic free by 2020. Sudima aims to establish industry benchmarks on single-use plastics by working with its suppliers to source alternative packaging options and reduce waste...

Activity involving the reduction of single use plastic has been increasing in our industry. This has been seen in everything from commitments to use soap dispensers to the elimination of plastic straws. One of the biggest problems with plastic is its final resting place—our oceans. SLO active, a social enterprise dedicated to cleaning up our oceans, recently published a guide entitled, “Plastic Pollution: Single Use Plastic Impact on Our Oceans.” Be sure to check it out. It comprehensively details the facts and figures of plastic pollution, the impact on our oceans and marine life, and much more. It will...

Earlier this year, Napili Kai Beach Resort, located on one of Maui’s most beautiful reef-protected bays, introduced an educational program to encourage visitors to use reef-safe sunscreens. In recent years, coral reefs throughout Hawaii and the world have shown damage and bleaching due to a variety of environmental factors, including poisoning from chemical sunscreen. Many common sunscreen ingredients can lower reef tolerance to bleaching and interrupt the development of marine life, including the coral itself, which is a living organism. Beginning in mid-December, Napili Kai began welcoming arriving guests with a free sample packet of Raw Elements reef-safe sunscreen, along with a discount coupon to purchase more and information about the damaging effects...

It was about five and one-half years ago that “Stay Well” rooms first emerged in our industry at the MGM Grand. These rooms, created by Delos Living, LLC, include features designed to enhance overall health. From advanced air purification to dawn simulation, circadian rhythm lighting and a healthy mattress, the wellness features are specifically designed to allow rejuvenating sleep, deliver purified air, provide specially filtered water and protect guests against allergens and germs. Other hotel properties have since adopted Stay Well rooms, including some Marriotts but the rooms may have gotten their biggest boost yet at the recent Wyndham Hotel Group’s 2018...

Purchasers of building materials and items such as furniture that contain building materials should always be mindful of formaldehyde risks. Formaldehyde is a colorless, strong-smelling gas used in making building materials. It is used in pressed-wood products, such as particleboard, plywood, and fiberboard; glues and adhesives; permanent-press fabrics; paper product coatings; and certain insulation materials. In certain concentrations it can be cancerous. By the beginning of June this year, virtually all composite wood products manufactured or sold in the United States, as well as products made with composite wood components, must meet tough formaldehyde standards. As a result, manufacturers of...

Humanscale has joined the growing list of companies utilizing commercial fishing nets in their products. The company just introduced its Smart Ocean chair that incorporates almost two pounds of recycled fishing net material. Sourced from Bureo, an emerging venture developing innovative solutions to prevent ocean plastic pollution, this is the first tangible product of its new partnership and marks the first product available to purchase from the consortium of companies under the NextWave initiative. “Fishing nets comprise approximately 10 percent of the plastic pollution in the ocean today,” says Humanscale Founder and CEO Robert King. “Our partnership with Bureo helps...

The evening of April 19 is going to be an interesting time at the Orlando World Center Marriott. It is then when Eco Convergence Group will introduce its HyCube at the hotel. The HyCube, according to Eco Convergence Group, is “an innovative hydroponic system built in an illuminated, modern structure that’s as beautiful as it is functional. It could transform how produce is sourced by chefs and experienced by guests around the world.” In their invitation to me, they used phrases such as: “Closer Than Local. Cleaner Than Organic. Precisely Hydroponic.” I wrote about Eco Convergence Group in a blog...

Today, World Water Day, the International Tourism Partnership (ITP) has released a 24-page report entitled, “Water Stewardship for Hotel Companies.” Be sure to read it. The report explains the connection between areas of tourism growth and water stress, and recommends six steps essential to any corporate water stewardship strategy. ITP’s goal is to “support increased water-use efficiency, sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and reduce the number of people affected by water scarcity by embedding water stewardship programs across hotel portfolios.” How bad is the global water problem? According to the report, the impact of growing human...

I recently attended the 5th annual Virginia Green Travel Conference. It was held at the LEED Gold Virginia Beach Convention Center. One of the attendees at the conference was someone from the Hilton Richmond Downtown. For those of you not familiar with the property, it is a historic hotel housed in the former Miller & Rhoads department store, an iconic building with over 100 years of history. Spanning an entire city block, the hotel boasts original features including marble floors and high ceilings. The first thing the attendee did after introducing himself was hand me a 4˝ X 9˝ card...

On Monday, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (AHLEF) both finalized and released their 2017 Annual Reports detailing last year’s hospitality industry accomplishments. It is my job to look for sustainability-related news and accomplishments in such reports. While the AHLA report did include news about the organization’s growth—it added 200,000 rooms in 2017—and highlighted initiatives geared toward the advancement of youth, it failed to include any substantive information at all about the advancement of sustainability in the lodging industry. Quite disappointing given everything that is going on. Also, AHLA does have...