Motel 6’s announcement last week that it will roll out a fluorescent light bulb and battery recycling program throughout its almost 900 properties was an important step that other companies should emulate. Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), which offer so many benefits, also include mercury, a hazardous substance. Not disposed of properly, liquid mercury quickly turns into a vapor that can be inhaled. Long-term exposure to it can damage the nervous system, the kidneys, lungs and other organs. Batteries are used throughout a hotel in items such as door locks, TV remotes and myriad other places. They consist of...

Green Lodging News commends Wen-I Chang and his company, Atman Hospitality Group Inc., for obtaining Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for the Gaia Napa Valley Hotel & Spa in American Canyon, Calif. The property is the first in the United States to reach the LEED Gold level. For those of you not familiar with LEED, certification levels include Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum. USGBC established a points-based system for LEED. To obtain Gold, a property must achieve from 39 to 51 points for sustainable steps taken in...

Sometimes good, green intentions are not good for the economy. Take Nevada, for example. In 2005 the Nevada Legislature approved a measure that cut property taxes up to 50 percent for 10 years and lowered sales taxes for building supplies to 2 percent for energy-efficient construction that meets Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. The tax incentives, the idea of a former state assemblywoman, were approved with little discussion by the Legislature. They never thought developers would actually want to participate in the program—at least to the extent they have. Original estimates put state abatement costs...

In one of my previous working lives I worked for a well-known pizza chain for about six months—as a waiter and delivery driver. One of my most vivid memories from that time is the volume of waste that was generated. Each night I would haul garbage bags full of unused pizza dough to the dumpster. In the hot weather it was quite a site—a huge container full of sticky, yeast-smelling dough just waiting to grow into something resembling the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. For all of those out there with restaurants, I hope you are doing a better...

While in Las Vegas for the HD 2007 Expo and Conference, I had an opportunity to visit the sales offices for CityCenter, MGM Mirage’s $7 billion project on The Strip. Thank you to Gordon Absher, vice president of public affairs for MGM Mirage, for giving up time in his busy schedule to chat about the project that is in pursuit of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. If you have not taken a close look at CityCenter yet, please do so—whether online or in person. I guarantee the quality and scope of the project will knock...

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? Well, I hope not. There were too many good ideas proposed at last week’s HD 2007 Expo & Conference to not take them home. Kudos to Hospitality Design magazine, the Network of Executive Women in Hospitality and all others involved in the organizing of the Green Luncheon, educational sessions and exhibits for putting on a successful event. Except for the sparsely attended session on the last morning of the conference, all of the environment-related sessions were packed with designers, architects, vendors and hoteliers interested in sustainable building and design. All of...

This week I will be in Las Vegas at the Hospitality Design 2007 Expo & Conference. The event will feature numerous activities of interest to Green Lodging News readers: a Green Luncheon, sessions on sustainability and green building, and exhibits by hundreds of companies that consider their products green. I will be attending the sessions and speaking with as many exhibitors as possible during my visit. Please be sure to look for articles covering the Las Vegas event on the Green Lodging News website later this week. Lodging design, I admit, has never been a topic that I...

During my time as an editor with IndustryWeek (IW) magazine, “supply chain management” (SCM) was mentioned a lot. It was such a hot topic, in fact, that the company that published IW at that time launched a publication dedicated to SCM. Supply chain management, as currently defined by Wikipedia, is the “process of planning, implementing and controlling the operations of the supply chain with the purpose to satisfy customer requirements as efficiently as possible. Supply chain management spans all movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption.” ...

This week could be the biggest week ever for the green lodging movement. Why? This Sunday is Earth Day and at no other time in our industry’s history has there been so much awareness of the problems facing our planet and what can be done to address them. If your company or hotel has not yet made a commitment to make a positive difference, Earth Day is the perfect day to get started. Even if you do not believe that global warming is real, there are so many other reasons to take action. One example: This past week...

Over the past six months I have noticed a significant increase in the number of lodging establishments that have announced carbon offsetting and Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) purchase initiatives. In case you do not understand what carbon offsetting means, or what a REC is, according to Wikipedia, carbon offsetting is “the process of reducing the net carbon emissions of an individual or organization, either by their own actions, or through arrangements with a carbon offset provider.” According to San Francisco-based 3 Phases Energy Services, a REC represents one megawatt hour (MWh) of renewable electricity generated and delivered somewhere...