Hospitality companies with casinos here in the United States have generally done an excellent job implementing sustainability programs. Witness the many articles here on Green Lodging News about the various gaming companies—especially those in Las Vegas. Where they are still failing is in the ongoing exposure of guests and employees to secondhand smoke in casinos where smoking is still legal. A recent study hammers home the danger in exposing individuals to secondhand smoke in a casino environment.In case you missed it, the study published in Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association, shows how implementing a smoke-free policy...

This past week I posted the second in my series of articles on green lodging certification programs. It focuses on the Green Key Global Eco-Rating Program. (I had previously written about Audubon International’s Green Lodging Program. Click here to see that article.) The Green Key program got its start in Canada where there are now 1,231 rated properties. The program was launched by the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) in 1997. In partnership with LRA Worldwide, Inc. in the United States, HAC has grown the program to include 1,621 rated properties in the U.S. There are 20 additional countries...

I have begun a series of articles on the various green lodging certification programs. Please be sure to look for them in the coming weeks. They will appear in no particular order. The first one, on Audubon International’s Green Lodging Program, was just posted on Green Lodging News. Be sure to check it out.I have taken a really close look at just a few programs so far. None of them are perfect. They can all be improved in one way or another. Some of them have applications that just need a good proofreading. If you are involved in one...

Get out your calendars. It is going to be a busy green lodging conference and trade show season beginning in October. As reported here previously, Lodging Magazine, in collaboration with EcoGreenHotel (Green Lodging News is a sponsor), is wrapping up the planning for its first Lodging Green + Sustainability Conference + Expo. It will be held from October 1 to 3 at the LEED Gold certified Omni Dallas Hotel. Details are available on the conference website but you should know that the conference organizers have secured the participation of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as the keynote speaker. Many other...

More than three years ago I wrote about shuttle vehicle idling. That column was prompted by a flight attendant who wrote to me about the many hotel shuttle vehicles she has to ride and the drivers’ practice of keeping the engine running at all times. While idling is often something out of our control as drivers (hybrids and electric-powered automobiles do address this issue successfully), we can do some things to minimize idling—turning the engine off when not actually driving anywhere and not using restaurant or coffee shop drive-throughs.In the article I posted this past week on electric shuttle...

It is amazing what a rain storm and some innovative thinking can do. As detailed in my article this week about the Grand Hyatt Atlanta, Wes Shirley, the hotel’s director of engineering, was standing one day watching the rain fall on the third floor terrace of the 439-room hotel. He wondered how the hotel could best capture and recycle the rainwater falling on the terrace. He got together with a couple of friends—a plumber and another engineer—to figure out a plan. What the three came up with, with the assistance of some students at Southern Polytechnic University, is an...

This month Green Lodging News will celebrate its seven-year anniversary. I just might order a cake. My one-year-old (soon to be two) will love that.To all of those readers who faithfully follow my publication, thank you for doing so. I also have to thank all of you who have submitted content for publication over the years. Your contributions have helped build the Green Lodging News website into a database of almost 6,000 articles.Seven years ago, in Green Lodging News’ first month, there were fewer than 4,000 different visitors to the Green Lodging News website. Last month (June) there were...

This week the dual-branded Home2 Suites by Hilton/Hampton Inn & Suites will officially open in Huntsville, Ala. The property, which features 175 guestrooms (77 in Home2 Suites by Hilton and 98 in Hampton Inn & Suites), has been open for several months. I was invited by Hilton Worldwide to spend a night at each of the properties last week. My goal was to identify the efficiencies that come with a dual-branded property and check on the green attributes of each hotel. The hotel is owned by Apple Hospitality and managed by LBA Hospitality.There are now approximately 100 dual-branded properties...

One down and 49 more to go could soon turn into three down and 47 more to go. What I am referring to is efforts in the 50 states to create statewide recycling programs for used mattresses. As reported here on Green Lodging News, earlier this year Connecticut passed legislation to create the infrastructure for a mattress recycling program. Late last month, California’s State Senate approved SB 254, a bill which would create the same. Assembly hearings on that legislation, according to Ryan Trainer, president, International Sleep Products Assn. (ISPA), are expected to begin early next month. In Rhode...

Several weeks ago, while in Las Vegas just prior to HD Expo, I had an opportunity to tour around The Palazzo Resort-Hotel-Casino. My guide was Jenny Yu, director, Global Sustainability for Las Vegas Sands Corp. I wrote about part of that tour in an entry on my blog. If you have never been to the complex that includes The Palazzo, The Venetian, and Sands Expo, I highly recommend it. The site features the largest hotel site solar thermal installation in the United States and other very unique green design and operational features.During a tour of one of the guestrooms...