KEY LARGO, FLA.—The Key Largo Resorts Marina was recently awarded Clean Marina Certification from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and The Clean Boating Partnership in recognition of their efforts in adopting environmentally friendly practices beyond standard regulatory requirements. The marine improvements and newly implemented programs help protect the waters, natural wildlife and clean facilities at Key Largo Resorts Marina. Some of Key Largo Resorts Marina’s initiatives include the use of oil absorbers in bilges, utilization of recycling centers, and the installation of multiple trash receptacles. “We have developed a ‘best practices’ standard which all of our vendors...

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS—With its recent $1 billion in renovations, the Holiday Inn brand has earned well-deserved publicity. Perhaps the Holiday Inn property deserving of the most buzz this year, however, is the brand new Holiday Inn Northwest/Sea World in San Antonio. The 194-room hotel is on track to be the first LEED certified hotel in Texas and the first LEED certified property within the 3,300-property Holiday Inn brand. The hotel, which opened on October 5, is owned by a group of investors out of Lubbock, Texas, and managed by Dallas-based Hospitality Management Corp. Green highlights of the 100 percent...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule to help reduce water pollution from construction sites. The agency believes this rule, which takes effect in February 2010 and will be phased in over four years, will significantly improve the quality of water nationwide. Construction activities like clearing, excavating and grading significantly disturb soil and sediment. If that soil is not managed properly it can easily be washed off of the construction site during storms and pollute nearby water bodies. The final rule requires construction site owners and operators that disturb one or more acres to use best management...

KANSAS CITY, KAN.—EPA Region 7 has awarded grants totaling $154,332 to Kansas State University and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) for separate projects aimed at pollution prevention. Both grants are authorized by the Pollution Prevention Act, which allows EPA to provide funding to states, their entities, and tribal governments for technical assistance projects that address source reduction or elimination of pollution by businesses across all environmental media—air, water and land. Kansas State University will receive $55,882 from EPA and provide additional funds for a total of $61,882 to support its Pollution Prevention Institute’s efforts to continue offering...

NATIONAL REPORT—Hotel managers are not the only party at the negotiating table struggling to control costs and operate within the limits of austere budgets. Meeting planners have also been given the challenge of setting up effective events at the least possible cost. In an effort to work within the framework of slashed government, corporate, and association meeting budgets, planners have continued to cut banquet menus and off-site events as they have in the past. However, now they have begun to flex their negotiating leverage and ask for aggressive room rate concessions from hoteliers. In response, it appears that hotel...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Doubletree Hotels and the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), the world’s largest humanitarian organization, have teamed up to motivate students to help fight hunger this holiday season through a unique relationship that will collect food for local food banks in the United States and raise funds for WFP’s hunger relief operations abroad. The “Community Drive to Fight World Hunger” campaign is part of Doubletree’s award-winning Teaching Kids to CARE community outreach program, which raises awareness about key social and environmental issues through educational activities and fosters a sense of activism, empowerment and reward among students. Food...

CONCORD, N.H.—Visitors to New Hampshire who want to stay in a “green” property can now search and book a room via the New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism Development’s website. According to officials, New Hampshire is the first state in New England to have a live, interactive “green” booking system enabling visitors to search and make an immediate reservation at a green lodging property in New Hampshire. “Traveling green just got a whole lot easier in New Hampshire,” said Alice DeSouza, director of the New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism Development. “Now when a visitor makes the choice...

LAS VEGAS—Affirming its commitment to bring a new level of environmental consciousness to the Las Vegas Strip, CityCenter has earned its fifth and sixth LEED Gold ratings from the U.S. Green Building Council with the certification of Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas and Veer Towers. The accomplishment completes the certification process for all CityCenter components opening this December, and marks the highest LEED achievement by any hotel, retail district or residential development in Las Vegas. The 18-million-square-foot metropolis is one of the world’s largest sustainable communities. “From its inception to design, development and construction, we had one single goal in mind...

DENVER—The 2010 Sustainable Meetings Conference has opened registration with a new theme, keynote speaker Annie Leonard, a wide-ranging program, and the ambitious goal of drawing 500 participants to Denver from February 9 to 11, 2010. The conference theme, “Scaling it Up,” underscores the growing importance of sustainability in meetings and events, as well as surging interest in the Green Meeting Industry Council’s (GMIC) premier annual event (formerly the Greening the Hospitality Industry Conference). “This conference is the opportunity for meeting organizers and hosts to address the sustainability issues that are redefining the industry,” said GMIC president Amy Spatrisano, CMP. “GMIC...

BROOMFIELD, COLO.—High in the Colorado Rockies a life-saving necessity is making its way to the island nation of Haiti and abroad. By partnering with Orlando, Fla.-based Clean the World, Inc., RockResorts is collecting barely-used soap and shampoo from its collection of eight hotels and enabling the charity to provide the much-needed supplies to needy people in homeless shelters and impoverished countries around the world. Recently Clean the World delivered a shipment of 45,000 bars of soap to Cap Haitien, Haiti. Another 100,000 bars just arrived in Haiti, the poorest country of the western hemisphere, to be distributed in the...