ZION NATIONAL PARK, UTAH—Zion Lodge has become one of the few national park lodges in the country to offer electric car charging stations to visitors of the park. The lodge, which has received numerous awards for its sustainability initiatives, recently installed two Level 2 Clipper Creek Dual CS 40 systems. The stations are available on a complimentary and first-come, first-served basis to visitors of the park.“Just as Zion Lodge is perpetually focused on enhancing our sustainability programs to minimize our environmental footprints, our guests are increasingly focused on softening their own footprints as travelers,” said Daisy Hobbs, General Manager...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Geographic Society announced its newest foray in world-class travel experiences: National Geographic Unique Lodges of the World, a collection of boutique hotels in extraordinary places around the world with a demonstrated commitment to sustainability, authenticity and excellence. Selected through a rigorous evaluation process, these lodges offer an outstanding guest experience while supporting the protection of cultural and natural heritage and embracing sustainable tourism practices. The initial collection—numbering 24 properties on six continents—further builds National Geographic’s travel portfolio, which includes National Geographic Expeditions, Traveler magazine, travel books, photography courses and the @NatGeoTravel digital and photography community.As part...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking action to protect the public from seven ethylene glycol ethers or glymes chemicals that can cause health effects including birth defects and blood toxicity.“Today’s action is part of our continuing efforts to help ensure that chemicals in products we use every day are safe for the American public,” said Jim Jones, Assistant Administrator for Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “Finalizing this action could prevent an increase in the use of these chemicals and reduce human exposure through ingestion and inhalation.”Some of these chemicals are currently used in consumer products, including...

HONOLULU—Hawaii Energy’s largest incentive for a hotel to date was recently awarded to Hawaii’s largest hotel—the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort. Hawaii Energy, the ratepayer-funded energy conservation and efficiency program for Hawaii, Honolulu and Maui counties, presented a $471,192 incentive check to the Hilton after the completion of phase I of a multi-phase, multi-million dollar energy efficiency upgrade project. Phase I included a major lighting retrofit in 1,839 guestrooms and the installation of energy-saving fan coil motors in all 2,860 guestrooms. The incentive will help Hilton offset its phase I project costs of more than $1.91 million. Hawaii...

BETHESDA, MD.—Marriott International, Inc. recently was named among America’s top corporations for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality, by earning a perfect 100 percent score on the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) 2015 Corporate Equality Index (CEI).The Index rankings are based on objective factors such as non-discrimination policies inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity, benefits for same-sex spouses and domestic partners, appropriate and respectful advertising, and external community outreach. “As a global hospitality leader, Marriott believes our policies must create the environment where all people come to work fired up to succeed and able to focus on our...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—What do HEI Hotels & Resorts, InterContinental Hotels Group, MGM Resorts International, Wyndham Worldwide, and Hilton Worldwide have in common? They are all participants in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge, a program that had its hard launch three years ago last month (December 2011). As part of the Challenge, each of the hotel companies has made a commitment to assess their building portfolio to determine energy efficiency opportunities and publicly pledge to improve the energy intensity of their building portfolio by at least 20 percent over 10 years. Challenge Partners also have pledged to announce...

NEW YORK—The International Restaurant & Foodservice Show of New York is an all-encompassing event for thousands of restaurant, foodservice and hospitality industry professionals from throughout New York and the tri-state region. In 2015, Urban Expositions, owners of the event, along with the event’s sponsor, the New York State Restaurant Association, are excited to offer several ways for vendors and restaurateurs to participate in this trade show and conference scheduled for Sunday, March 8 to Tuesday, March 10 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City.“We invite restaurant owners, operators, caterers, and chefs to join over 16,000...

SAN FRANCISCO—Airbnb, the world’s leading community-driven hospitality company, announced a unique social challenge that acts on the company’s core principles of hospitality, belonging, and opening doors around the world. As a community known for embracing the spirit of belonging, Airbnb is ringing in the new year with one goal in mind: to turn strangers into friends.Airbnb has invited its global community to help rid the world of strangers through personal and creative acts of hospitality through #OneLessStranger. Beginning today, the company will give approximately $10—or the equivalent in foreign currency—to 100,000 Airbnb community members worldwide, totaling $1 million. Airbnb...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Between 1970 and 2010 populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish around the globe dropped 52 percent, says the 2014 Living Planet Report released recently by World Wildlife Fund (WWF). This biodiversity loss occurs disproportionately in low-income countries—and correlates with the increasing resource use of high-income countries.In addition to the precipitous decline in wildlife populations the report’s data point to other warning signs about the overall health of the planet. The amount of carbon in the atmosphere has risen to levels not seen in more than a million years, triggering climate change that is already destabilizing ecosystems....

CHICAGO—Environmental sustainability, sustainable seafood and food-waste reduction are among the top trends at restaurants in 2015, according to the National Restaurant Association’s annual What’s Hot culinary forecast. The NRA, as it does every year, surveyed approximately 1,300 professional chefs—all members of the American Culinary Federation—to determine the industry’s hottest trends, and in 2015 sustainability is going to be center of the plate, the respondents said.“We’ve been seeing strong trends toward sustainability in the food space for several years now and that’s going to continue to grow,” said Annika Stensson, the NRA’s Senior Manager of Research Communications. “Chefs and restaurateurs...