A very happy new year to you! May it be a greener one and a more prosperous one for all of you.
Green Lodging News will turn 17 this year—very hard to believe—and in that time the Green Lodging News website has accumulated more than 13,000 articles, many of which make the most read articles overall list time and time again. For this column, as has been done in previous years, I list the most read articles on the website for only those articles that were posted in the previous year—2022 in this case, of course. The articles are somewhat of a gauge of what the hotel industry is paying attention to or what interests it most when it comes to sustainability.
Here then are the top 10 most read articles of 2022:
- Sophia Lykke Blends Her Talents to Keep Club Med’s Happy to Care Program on Track. Began the article: “Unlike many CSR managers in the lodging industry, Sophia Lykke brings some unique skills to the table—public relations experience that helps her be the storyteller and spokesperson for the Club Med brand, and seven years of on-property operational experience.”
- Wynd Study Highlights Wide Disparity in Indoor Air Quality at 28 Hotels on Vegas Strip. This study showed there are significant differences between Las Vegas Strip hotels’ IAQ levels, with the worst hotel being 80 times worse than the best one. These differences exist even though the hotels are close to one another. The hotel with the worst air quality had a concentration of dust worse than the average air quality day in Beijing or New Delhi.
- Marriott Covers All Green Bases with Its New Bethesda Headquarters. For this article about the opening of Marriott’s new headquarters in Bethesda, Md., I spoke with Rado Ivanov, Marriott’s Vice President, Global Design, U.S. & Canada. Interestingly, the headquarters earned a Fitwel 3-star rating. This is the highest rating achievable from Fitwel, a leading global health certification system.
- Standard Fiber Partners with weaveRIGHT Technology. The most read vendor news article in 2022, the press release describes the signing of an agreement by Standard Fiber with weaveRIGHT Technology giving Standard Fiber exclusive rights to develop and distribute bath products made with the technology to the home retail and hospitality markets.
- Many Upsides to Using Biodigesters to Break Food Waste Down Dramatically. Food waste has been a huge topic in our industry in recent years. In this article I revisited biodigesters that reduce food waste to grey water and have been effectively used by hotels for many years now and for good reason. According to Power Knot, a supplier of 10 different models of biodigesters, the machines greatly reduce the cost to dispose of waste food, reduce the size, quantity, and smells of trash bins, eliminate flies and rodents that may be attracted to garbage bins containing waste food, save time and injuries of employees carrying trash outdoors, and allow one to weigh and dispose of food waste in one machine.
- Battery Innovations Make Giving Up Canned Chafing Fuel Even More of a No Brainer. Canned gel chafing fuel remains the primary heating choice for upwards of 90 percent of the hospitality industry for chafing dishes and other similar food and beverage containers according to industry experts. That is bad news for the environment and hotel owners, however, when one considers canned fuel’s inefficiency, its cost, its many hazards while in use, and its carbon and other negative impacts throughout the supply chain. In fact, says David Moreland, Chief Bottle Washer for Smart Buffet Ware, when you burn canned fuel, 78 percent of the fuel is heating the atmosphere—not what is intended to be heated.
- AKA University City Launches Communal Rooftop Gardening. AKA University City launched a new “gardening program amongst the clouds.” Set atop the building’s exclusive Level 28 overlooking the Philadelphia skyline, this new amenity will be the city’s tallest communal herb garden, rising over 400 feet in the sky. Custom-made garden boxes have been installed and will be available for residents to help plant, maintain, and use for personal cooking or cocktails in their full kitchens—giving residents and guests yet another sense of home during their stay at AKA.
- Pellet Made from Seaweed a Breakthrough as Alternative to Oil-Derived Plastic. A plastic alternative made from seaweed is now a reality thanks to the work of LOLIWARE and its founder and CEO Chelsea Briganti. On Earth Day, April 22, the company announced that it had developed the first seaweed pellet—the SEA Tech Pellet—created from natural biomaterials to replace plastic at scale.
- A Chat with Getaway’s Chief Experience Officer About Company’s Monumental Growth, Its Sustainability Commitment. Said the first paragraph of the article: “Getaway, the hospitality company that offers mindful escapes to tiny cabins in nature, hired Carlos Becil as its first-ever Chief Experience Officer last July, following a monumental year of growth and $41.7M Series C funding. As the former CMO of Coach and Equinox, and VP of Brand Management for Starwood, Carlos is bringing a dynamic perspective to Getaway, helping take it from a “tiny cabin” rental company to a global hospitality business.”
- What Hotels Should Consider When Joining an Eco-certification Program. This first guest column in our top 10 explains what green hotel certifications are, how certifications are assessed, and provides a detailed list of helpful advice for anyone considering green hotel certification.
As always, thank you so much for reading Green Lodging News and never hesitate to contact me with a story idea worth sharing. I can be reached at greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.
Who is Your Sustainability Champion?
Green Lodging News is always looking to profile sustainability champions in our Personnel Profile section. If you would like to nominate someone for this section of Green Lodging News, contact me at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.
Looking for Guest Columnists
Every two weeks Green Lodging News posts a new guest column on its website. (Click here for examples.) The guest column also appears in the weekly e-newsletter. Green Lodging News is currently in need of industry experts to contribute occasional guest columns. Experts may include consultants, architects, designers, suppliers, and those who own or operate green lodging establishments. Columns may be articles that take a stance on a particular subject or be strictly educational in nature. Columnists benefit by having their photo included along with a one paragraph description of their company. Interested in writing a column? Contact Glenn Hasek, publisher and editor, at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.
Get in the Green Suppliers Spotlight!
Green Lodging News, lodging’s leading environmental news source, publishes Green Suppliers Spotlight, an e-blast to 19,361 subscribers that features the lodging industry’s leading green products and services. The e-blast features multiple vendors—unlike the current Green Supplier Spotlight that allows one supplier to “own” the Green Lodging News subscriber list for one e-blast. (Click here for a Green Suppliers Spotlight sample or here for a long list of Wednesday Green Supplier Spotlight examples.)
Green Suppliers Spotlight is published weekly on Thursdays to general managers, owners, management companies, directors of sustainability, directors of engineering, facilities managers and many others who are either in purchasing positions or who influence purchasing decisions. Suppliers of green products and services throughout North America and beyond are invited to participate in the e-blast. (Minimum two suppliers per e-blast.) Green Suppliers Spotlight was created to give vendors an opportunity to reach a high number of industry purchasers at a very low cost—as low as $200 per e-mail. (Click here for rate sheet.)
Those advertising in Green Suppliers Spotlight can include up to 100 words, one image, contact information and multiple links to their website in their ad. At the end of each week, a report will be sent to each supplier with information on delivered e-mails, opens and click-throughs.
Planning Advertising for 2023?
Green Lodging News is accepting reservations for advertising spots for 2023. Many excellent spots are available on our website and in the weekly e-mail newsletter. Many Green Supplier and Green Suppliers Spotlight dates are also available. Interested in receiving a 2023 media kit? Be sure to contact me as soon as possible at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at greenlodgingnews@gmail.com. A media kit can also be accessed by clicking here. Thank you to all those companies that consistently support Green Lodging News.
Newsletter & Green Supplier Spotlight Circulation
The circulation of our weekly e-newsletter and Green Supplier Spotlight currently stands at 19,361. Thank you to our new subscribers for signing up. Be sure to encourage your colleagues to do the same. There are “subscribe” links on the Green Lodging News home page. You may also e-mail greenlodgingnews@gmail.com to be added to our list.
Green Lodging News & Social Media
Green Lodging News now has 1,728 Twitter followers. Thank you to all of those who follow our tweets. In addition to following us on Twitter, be sure to bookmark the Green Lodging News Blog in your browser. More importantly, participate with your comments. Green Lodging News is also on Facebook. Be sure to “Like” us there. Green Lodging News now has more than 1,300 Facebook followers.
As always, I can be reached at greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.
