Eight months ago Governor Jerry Brown declared the drought in California a “State of Emergency” and asked Californians to reduce their daily water consumption by 20 percent. Six months later the California Hotel & Lodging Assn. debuted a “California Water Resources” page on its website to help hoteliers in California link to water conservation ideas and rebates and incentives that make it easier to invest in efficient fixtures and other water-conserving items. (One example: In San Diego County, the SoCal Water$mart Program provides commercial customers with $100 per toilet rebates for replacing select older, inefficient toilets with new 1.28...

What impact is climate change having on tourism in your state? Do you know the science behind it? The Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) cares enough about the issue that it recently partnered with the University of Hawaii to produce a report entitled, “Climate Change Impacts in Hawaii: A summary of climate change and its impacts to Hawaii’s ecosystems and communities.” The report addresses such questions as, “What does climate change look like?” and “What is the current state of scientific knowledge regarding climate change globally, and how does it relate to Hawaii specifically?”“HTA is a knowledge-based organization and we...

Assuming the project gets the approval of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission in the next few weeks and is not appealed by voters in November, Mohegan Sun Massachusetts could end up being one of the greenest construction projects in U.S. lodging history. To be located at Suffolk Downs in Revere, Mass., the $1.3 billion destination resort will include a main casino hotel and boutique hotel totaling 500 rooms and over 170,000 square feet of casino floor space and 5,000 gaming positions. Gary Luderitz, V.P. of Operations & Development for Mohegan Gaming Advisors, told me this past week that the project...

Marriott International just released its 2014 Sustainability Report. It is the third time Marriott has issued a Sustainability Report using guidelines established by the Global Reporting Initiative. Different this time is how Marriott is presenting its report. One can either read it as a whole or select from a series of Issue Reports in areas such as Environmental Performance, Community Engagement, and Ethics and Human Rights. This new approach, according to Denise Naguib, Marriott’s Vice President of Sustainability and Supplier Diversity, makes the report a lot more readable. “The graphical changes are also much more appealing,” she told me...

With the summer winding down it is time to make your reservations to attend this fall’s green conferences and trade shows. The first event on the calendar is the Mid-Atlantic Green Hospitality Conference from September 15 to 16 at Dover Downs Hotel & Casino in Dover, Del. The itinerary for the inaugural conference is still being assembled but many of the details can be found by clicking here. Highlights include a farm-to-fork dinner and many educational and networking opportunities with industry peers and suppliers.The Lodging Green + Sustainability Conference & Expo is set for October 28 to 30 at...

Touché! That’s what came to mind when reading Airbnb’s recent press release touting the reduced environmental footprint of the travelers booking places to stay through its website. According to the San Francisco-based company, which says more than 17 million travelers have used its website since its founding in 2008, in North America, Airbnb guests use 63 percent less energy than hotel guests. I was a bit taken aback that Airbnb, with its research partner, Cleantech Group, had actually thrown out a specific number like 63 percent. But hey, what do I know?Airbnb and Cleantech Group came to their conclusion...

For quite some time, hotel investors and others have been trying to determine whether or not spending money on smart “green” building and efficiency can lead to a higher average daily rate (ADR) and more revenue per available room (RevPAR). This discussion has particularly taken place when involving hotels that have been put through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification process. Is it really worth the time and money to get a building LEED certified? From an efficiency standpoint there is no doubt that it is but what about from an ADR...

In doing research for an article on multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) this past week, I spoke with two experts, each of whom expressed significant concerns about being quoted. Talking about products with chemicals that trigger health problems is apparently risky business. Chemical companies, eager to protect their own interests, have large legal teams and must watch the Internet closely. My goal in my research is to identify what hoteliers are doing wrong that causes issues for folks with MCS, and what they can do better to make their properties safer havens. Briefly, MCS involves severe sensitivity or allergy-like reaction...

The just released Orlando Destination Sustainability Report is proof that a destination’s green story—from the airport to the rental car to the hotel and beyond—can successfully be condensed into a document of great value to all travel stakeholders. The report should be considered a best practice to emulate by your city. The report was commissioned by Green Destination Orlando (GDO) and is a co-production of GDO, Greenview and the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, along with 40 to 50 community volunteers. A lot of work was also put into the report by city and county...

It is hard to believe but it was eight years ago this week that Green Lodging News went “live.” As I celebrate eight years of reporting on the green side of lodging, I have to thank all of the many thousands of you who have faithfully followed my publication during that time—whether through the website, weekly e-newsletter, Facebook or Twitter. A big thank you also goes out to the many suppliers who have supported Green Lodging News. Those partnerships have been invaluable. Be sure to support those vendors with your business.The Green Lodging News site, during its first month...