Just about a month prior to this month’s HX: The Hotel Experience and Boutique Design New York (BDNY) trade shows in New York City, Emerald Expositions Events, Inc. announced that it had acquired the HX and BDNY shows along with BDWest, Boutique Design Magazine and other assets of ST Media Group International and Hospitality Media Group. In case you are not familiar with Emerald, it is the owner of HD Expo, the large hospitality design event held each May in Las Vegas. The Boutique Design purchases make a lot of sense and are a natural fit for Emerald. The...

A good idea gone bad? What do you think? It was almost a decade ago that the “Make a Green Choice” program first emerged at a couple of Sheraton hotels. It then began spreading throughout Starwood Hotels & Resorts. In case you are not familiar with the program, it allows guests to opt out of housekeeping for up to three or four days in exchange for a vouchers or loyalty points. Once Marriott acquired Starwood, it continued the program and added a similar “Your Choice” program at some of its hotels. When the program was first gaining traction, I remember...

As I am writing this, I am counting down the hours to the opening of the HX: The Hotel Experience and Boutique Design New York (BDNY) trade shows. Both will be held November 11 to 12 at the Javits Center in New York City. I will be attending both shows. Be sure to watch for a wrap-up of both shows in the coming week. Those of you attending this year’s HX show will find a new conference that will overlap the show’s hours. One of the conference sessions is entitled, “Please, Not Another Sustainability Pitch… Join the Debate!” Educational sessions...

When the Miami Hurricanes football team plays, they wear uniforms made from 70 percent regenerated ECONYL yarn, which is made from fishing nets and other nylon waste found in the ocean. The special attire comes courtesy of Adidas and Parley For The Oceans, an organization focused on addressing major threats to the ocean. Also, when Manchester United plays, its “third kit” uniforms—for games where the regular home or away uniforms are unsuitable due to color clashes with the opposition’s outfits—are made from the same material. Back in 2008, Green Lodging News ran an article about Wyndham Hotels and Resorts committing...

Will organic cotton linens—sheets, pillow cases, duvet covers—ever become common in our industry? Now, they are a rare find even in upscale hotels and resorts. They are not used in Pure Rooms. Nor are they used in Stay Well rooms. Yet, according to experts, organic cotton linens provide an environmental and wellness advantage over standard cotton linens. According to Anna Sova, a provider of luxury organic cotton linen, conventional cotton makes up only 3 percent of the world’s crops but uses 25 percent of the world’s pesticides annually. Every pound of cotton grown has been treated with one-third pound of...

Two articles published this past week hammer home the importance and value in creating a green and healthy workplace for employees and others. The first article details the results of a survey conducted by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The second article, published by JLL, highlights what building design techniques and technologies help enhance the health and wellbeing of a building’s residents (watch for the article soon on GLN). According to the USGBC survey of 1,001 workers, employees who work in LEED-certified green buildings are happier, healthier and more productive than employees in conventional and non-LEED buildings. When people work...

It was a remarkable week this past week with the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) “Global Warming of 1.5°C” report and the incredible devastation caused by the buzz saw called Michael that whipped through the panhandle of Florida after feeding off of an extra warm Gulf of Mexico. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those impacted. (Click here for donation options.) The IPCC report is lengthy, eye opening and alarming—especially at a time when our government is doing all it can to reverse progress that has been made. I published the official press...

Drive a Tesla? A Leaf? A Prius Prime? A Volt? A Bolt? Many of your guests certainly are—and proudly. In fact, more than 800,000 Americans now drive electric vehicles (EVs). GlobalData predicts that the proportion of EVs as new registrations will rise from barely 1 percent of global passenger vehicles in 2017 to more than 15 percent by 2030. Are you neglecting this growing sector of the driving public by not giving them what they most want—charging stations? These savvy drivers make their traveling decisions based on the availability of places to charge up. If your competition across the street...

If there were a green lodging hall of fame, Ewald Biemans would be one of the first inductees. I had an opportunity to speak with him this past week. For those of you not familiar with Ewald, he is the owner and CEO of Aruba’s Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort. The 104-room property has been open since 1987 and Ewald has been championing sustainability and continuous improvement for 31 of those years. More than 20 Green Lodging News articles have featured Bucuti & Tara. It would be impossible to mention all the resort’s accomplishments in just one column. As one...

My brother-in-law is just 60 but has had Lewy body dementia for at least several years. He can no longer drive, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to trust him on a bicycle. He has recently fallen off his bike three times. My sister has had to reduce her work hours to part time to take care of him. It is hard to watch someone so young already have such challenges. I suspect we all know someone who has had to deal with one form of dementia or another. I thought about my brother-in-law this past week because of a...