According to a report in The Japan News, a government system for ranking service-sector companies on their energy-saving achievements will begin on a full-fledged basis next fiscal year. Under the system, a scheme will be introduced for awarding “stars” to companies with excellent records. Companies that have made excellent achievements will obtain stars, but those with poor results will face consequences, such as public naming. With the star ranking system, the government aims to foster competition among companies to save more energy. This will help prevent global warming and boost related investments. Starting next fiscal year, the Economy, Trade and...

Sometime this past weekend, along a main road close to where I live, someone pulled over with their truck and unloaded what must have been a ton of old furniture, clothes and other junk. Not content to leave it all on one side of the road, they left a portion on the other side as well. Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence in our world—illegal dumping and littering along roadways, beaches, in the water, and in just about every location you can imagine. This morning I drove by the same road close to my home and the junk had been...

I often hear from entrepreneurs in the process of developing new products for hotels. One such person, Greg Floyd, contacted me yesterday in regard to Abstract Engineering LLC’s latest venture—a Shower Stream attachment for guestroom showerheads. What does the Shower Stream attachment do? Typically, your guests, after they turn on the shower, will step out of the shower and let the water run for a period of time until it is hot enough. This is what is considered “behavioral waste”. Water is wasted and energy as well. The Shower Stream is a motion-activated shower head adapter that Abstract Engineering says...

A number of companies in our industry issued press releases this past week highlighting their being recognized by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) as one of the “Best Places to Work for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Equality.” Each company touted the fact that it had earned a perfect score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI). I saw releases from Wyndham Worldwide, IHG, Hilton, Caesars Entertainment, Marriott, Wynn Las Vegas and Encore, and Expedia. Other companies may have issued press releases that I just did not see. How does a company earn a...

Several years ago I wrote about the efforts of an 11-year-old boy to eliminate the use of plastic straws in restaurants. One of his goals was to make the giving of straws an “upon request” deal rather than an automatic reflex. We all know the majority of straws end up in the landfill—somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 million a day. According to Sarah Kollar, Project and Outreach Specialist for Ocean Conservancy in Washington, D.C., “Straws are one of the top ten items collected during cleanups thanks to the volunteers who collect data during the annual International Coastal Cleanup.”...

In last week’s Publisher’s Point of View column I summarized the results of the 2016 Lodging Survey—a production of the American Hotel & Lodging Assn. and STR. The survey was funded by the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation. Unique to the survey is how it breaks out its results—by chain scale, location, price segment and room range. I have read through the results of the past several surveys and have always been intrigued by the fact that economy types of properties seem to struggle a bit or lag behind when it comes to sustainability initiatives. Is it all...

As the only nationally-recognized day dedicated to promoting and celebrating recycling in the United States, America Recycles Day (ARD), which is an initiative of Keep America Beautiful, helps communities spotlight recycling on a local level by educating community members on how and what to recycle. But what makes this year different? In 2016, Keep America Beautiful is encouraging everyone  to #BeRecycled in every aspect of their lives. Specifically, we are inviting you to take the #BeRecycled pledge. Available online at http://AmericaRecyclesDay.org, the #BeRecycled Pledge is a promise to actively choose to live a recycled lifestyle by committing to “Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.”...

The American Hotel & Lodging Association just launched its new website at www.ahla.com. The site looks great. When I learned about the site’s relaunch, I was curious to know where on the site I might find something to do with sustainability. As it turns out, finding that information on the site is not so easy. First, there is no link to anything green from the home page. If you go to the menu in the upper right and click there, you get taken to a page where there is also no obvious sustainability related link. I took a chance...

I will be moderating a panel discussion at HX: The Hotel Experience on Sunday, November 13 from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. that is entitled, “Greenwashing or Nothing But the Truth—The Untold Story of the Greening of Amenities.” I am excited about the session because I have a great group of panelists: Ian Wallace, President of Dispenser Amenities; Guido Bonadonna, CEO, GFL SA; and Ray Burger, President, Pineapple Hospitality. Interestingly, I had a number of suppliers who will be exhibiting at HX decline participation. Maybe it was the “greenwashing” part of my session title that scared them away? I...

If you have not yet figured out a way to appeal to the growing global wellness movement, you had better start. It could mean a big boost to your business. A couple of days ago, the Global Wellness Institute (GWI) released research showing that the global wellness industry recently grew 10.6 percent, from a $3.36 trillion market in 2013 to $3.72 trillion in 2015. One of the 10 wellness markets analyzed was Wellness Tourism. It was the fourth fastest growing wellness market and grew 14 percent from 2013 to 2015. Other wellness markets include Preventative/Personalized Medicine & Public Health,...