NATIONAL REPORT—There has been a lot of attention lately on green meetings—from green meeting standards to industry agreement on the measurement of the carbon footprint of a meeting. What has been little talked about is the role a simple meeting table can play in the greening of meetings over many years. Increasingly, suppliers are offering tables that are not only recyclable but that can also be used without linens. In the manufacturing of these tables vendors are also taking steps to be environmentally responsible—recycling scrap, recapturing and reusing paint, purchasing supplies locally, incorporating highly unique materials, and making quality...

Ashley Halligan, an analyst who regularly reports on sustainability issues, recently published an article defining and breaking down the idea of net zero building. Beginning with an agreed-upon definition from experts she interviewed, she explains, "Net zero indicates that a building has generated at least as much power as it has consumed over a 12-month benchmarking period--which allows for seasonality to be factored into the measurement." She interviewed several experts including, Brian Anderson, Founding Partner of Anderson Porter Design, Dru B. Crawley, former Commercial Buildings Team Lead for the Department of Energy and current Director of Building Performance at Bentley Systems,...

MONTEZUMA, COSTA RICA—Anamaya Resort and Retreat Center is located in the small beach town called Montezuma, which is known as having a large community of artists, yogis, surfers, and environmentalists among expats as well as the ticos of Costa Rica. Anamaya is well known for their week-long yoga retreats and surfing camps. Their guests enjoy three organic and healthy meals per day with all their Yoga Retreats. Yoga Teacher Trainings are also becoming extremely popular at Anamaya and over the past few years they’ve had to quadruple the amount of trainings they offer in order to keep up with...

WAIKIKI, OAHU, HAWAII—In its efforts to continue to support the State of Hawaii’s ongoing efforts for a cleaner and more sustainable future, Outrigger Enterprises Group recently announced the installation of electric vehicle charging stations at 10 of its Waikiki and Oahu properties. Working with manufacturer and charging station provider AeroVironment, new EV charging stations are now available at the following locations: Outrigger Reef on the Beach, Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach, OHANA Waikiki East, OHANA Waikiki West, OHANA Waikiki Malia, OHANA Honolulu Airport Hotel, Embassy Suites-Waikiki Beach Walk, Holiday Inn Waikiki Beachcomber Resort, Ala Moana Hotel, and Best Western...

CHICAGO—Travelers are an eco-conscious group according to a joint survey conducted by The GO Group, LLC, an international ground transportation provider, and GO Airport Express, a GO Group member company based in Chicago. Seventy-one percent of the survey respondents say it is either important or very important to try and reduce their carbon footprint while traveling.The companies, which provide door-to-door airport shuttle services, asked travelers: “How important is it to you to reduce your carbon footprint while traveling?” More than 2,000 people responded.Just 13 percent of participants responded that it was not important, while 15 percent said they hadn’t...

BOSTON—Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Hostelling International USA (HI-USA) officials, community leaders and travelers last week celebrated the grand opening of the new Boston hostel located in the heart of downtown Boston at the intersection of the Midtown Cultural District, Theater District, and Chinatown. The new 480-bed Boston hostel, which replaces the 208-bed hostel currently located in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood, has been built to LEED green building certification program standards and is expected to be the first LEED Certified hostel in the nation.“I congratulate Hostelling International on this great new facility and welcome the many new visitors it will...

LAS VEGAS—For the second consecutive year, Caesars Entertainment Corp. is sponsoring Dartmouth College’s Big Green Bus tour across America. The converted Greyhound bus, operated by students, will run on recycled waste vegetable oil (WVO) as it travels the country educating individuals on best sustainability practices. The 11-week, 12,000-mile journey will take the 13 students across 24 states and will make refueling stops at Caesars resorts including Harrah’s Cherokee Casino (June 26), Harrah’s Tunica Casino (July 1), Harrah’s New Orleans Casino (July 3), Harrah’s Phoenix Ak-Chin Casino (July 14), Flamingo Las Vegas (July 19), Harrah’s Lake Tahoe Casino (July 24),...

VANCOUVER, B.C.—Tourism Vancouver’s recent appointment of a tourism energy specialist is believed to be a worldwide first among destination marketing and management organizations. The role was made possible through sponsorship from BC Hydro with the mandate to guide member hotels, restaurants and attractions in energy efficiency and conservation initiatives.The new tourism energy specialist role will enable Tourism Vancouver to more actively support the City of Vancouver’s Greenest City Action Plan and goal to be the world’s “greenest” city by 2020. The services of the tourism energy specialist will build on the BC Hydro partnership and further assist Tourism Vancouver’s...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Restaurant Assn. announced its partnership with the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Assn. (CRFA) to launch a Canadian version of the Conserve Sustainability Education Program. The initiative will provide Canadian restaurant operators and foodservice establishments with tools and information to become more environmentally friendly in areas ranging from energy use to waste management. “We are so pleased to begin this partnership with our friends in the Canadian restaurant and foodservice industry,” said Dawn Sweeney, president and CEO of the National Restaurant Assn. “The National Restaurant Assn. launched the Conserve initiative to raise awareness and provide resources to every...

ANN ARBOR, MICH.—NSF International, an independent global organization that writes standards, tests and certifies products for the commercial furnishing, construction, food, water and consumer goods industries, has collaborated with the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA) to develop a Product Category Rule (PCR) for the seating industry. This seating PCR provides a science-based and internationally recognized method for reporting the environmental impact of seating products throughout their entire life cycle.Product Category Rules define how to conduct a life cycle assessment (LCA) for a particular product group and what to include in the resulting report, called an Environmental Product...