CHICAGO—George McKerrow Jr., co-founder and chief executive of casual-dining restaurant chain Ted’s Montana Grill, recently signed a straw-free pledge that would require diners at his restaurants to ask for drinking straws instead of automatically being given one with their beverage orders.McKerrow, a longtime proponent of sustainability and sustainable business practices at his restaurants, signed the Be Straw Free pledge January 29, as a way of educating the public on how the use of plastic straws impacts the environment.The campaign is the brainchild of 11-year-old Milo Cress, a Boulder, Colo., resident who started the campaign in 2011. He is encouraging...

VANCOUVER, CANADA—Led by the Sustainable Tourism Unit and with the support of Small Planet Consulting, The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism recently launched their first-ever birding tourism development plan. The preparation of the plan was championed by Earlston McPhee, head of the Sustainable Tourism Unit. McPhee is well known for his work for more than 25 years in promoting sustainable tourism development in the Caribbean and around the world.The Bahamas depends heavily on its natural environment and has taken many steps to protect it. The country is one of the first in the world to establish a Sustainable Tourism Unit...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Sage Hospitality and Optima Fund Management announced that The Westin Cleveland Downtown will open in Spring 2014 after the completion of a $64 million renovation. The contemporary 484-room hotel is located in Cleveland’s downtown financial district adjacent to the new Cleveland Convention Center and Medical Mart and just steps from Brown’s Stadium and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.Ohio-based Marous Brothers Construction, design/builder on the project, began remodeling the property in December; plans include the renovation of all public areas, event space and guestrooms. The new exterior façade will feature metal panels and LED lighting that rotates...

RALEIGH, N.C.—Concord Hospitality Enterprises, one of the top-ranked hotel developer/owner/operators in North America, announced that it has stepped up its growth strategy for 2013 to include opportunistic acquisitions/divestments and third-party management in addition to continuing its aggressive development program. In 2012, the company committed more than $500 million to new development, and opened two hotels, while breaking ground on an additional six. For 2013, Concord expects to triple that performance by opening six hotels and breaking ground on 10. Looking ahead to 2014, Concord expects to open 12 newly developed hotels.“We have a very aggressive pipeline of 17 LEED-designed...

CHICAGO—The North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers (NAFEM) announces the return of the WHAT'S HOT! WHAT'S COOL! new product gallery at The NAFEM Show, February 7 to 9, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Fla.The NAFEM Show celebrates innovative thinking in the new product gallery, a one-stop-shop spotlighting more than 125 new products—the largest gallery yet—in the areas of labor savings, sanitation, “green,” energy efficiency, food safety, life cycle costs and more.“WHAT'S HOT! WHAT'S COOL! has quickly become an integral part of The NAFEM Show because it provides a tremendous value for all foodservice professionals, buyers and sellers alike,”...

BETHESDA, MD.—Marriott International is expanding its work to create a more sustainable planet by eliminating two controversial animal confinement systems from its food supply chain. According to its new policies, the Bethesda, Md.-based company will require all of its pork suppliers to discontinue the use of gestation crates for Marriott’s supply chain by 2018; and ensure that by 2015, all eggs and egg products used by Marriott come from cage-free hens. The policies follow the company’s 2011 transition to cage-free eggs at its JW Marriott locations.“Marriott International cares deeply about animal welfare and environmental sustainability, which is why we’re...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its lists of the top organizations within the Green Power Partnership using the most renewable electricity. In the Top 50 there is just one lodging company represented—Hilton Worldwide at No. 14. Ninety-four percent of the electricity purchased annually by Hilton is green power (315,000,000 kWh). Hilton’s green power resources include small-hydro and wind.Intel Corp. continues to hold the first spot on the list as the largest single user of green power and has increased its green power usage by more than 300 million kWh annually. With this increase, Intel Corporation now...

PHILADELPHIA—ARAMARK, the global professional services company, announced it will source all shell eggs within the United States from cage-free hens by the end of 2014. ARAMARK’s announcement comes after its recent commitment to eliminate all pork from animals bred using gestation crates in ARAMARK’s U.S. supply chain by 2017. Both announcements were made in conjunction with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the nation’s largest animal protection organization. ARAMARK is the largest U.S.-based food service company to make these commitments.“We’re committed to operating responsibly and addressing key issues throughout our supply chain and business,” said Kathy Cacciola,...

SPRINGFIELD, MO.—Undergraduate students currently enrolled in I-CHRIE member hospitality and culinary programs are invited to submit proposals for papers to be presented as poster sessions at the 2013 I-CHRIE Central Federation’s Hospitality Research Symposium. Submissions may address any of the following topics: Sustainability and  Environmental Responsibility in the Hospitality Industry, Culinary Arts (Food Trends, Regional Cuisines, Product Development); and Hospitality Management (Finance, Operations Management, Concept Development, Marketing, Management, Organizational Behavior, and Ethics).Authors from four-year schools must be juniors or seniors and authors from two-year culinary schools must be in their second year of study. Proposals will undergo a review...

AMSTERDAM—Thousands of green certified hotels in North America may soon be listed on BookDifferent.com, a hotel booking site that has been up and running since last June. Based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, BookDifferent.com last week announced that more than 1,000 eco-labeled hotels had already been noted as such on its site with a green heart icon. The hotels include Green Globe Certification labeled properties as well as those hotels that are part of Green Key, a program of the Foundation for Environmental Education (not Green Key Global). According to Bastiaan Fronik, BookDifferent's chairman, he recently has been contacted by...