CORAL SPRINGS, FLA.—Nubo Bottle Co. announces the release of its Gen II Filtered Water Bottle. Both ends of the bottle are removable for superior cleaning it features a gravity fed filtration system which filters water on its way into the bottle.Managing Director Dr. Abraham K. Kohl explained the driving force behind the creation of Nubo’s Gen II Filtered water bottle this way, “With all major beverage manufacturers targeting bottled water, over 100 billion throw-away bottles were produced last year alone. The sad truth is that only 10 percent of these disposable, single-use bottles ever get recycled. The vast majority...

DALLAS—Committed to making the world a better place one trip at a time, Travelocity selected Courtney Vaudreuil, a local resident of Los Angeles, as the first of three travel award recipients for this year’s Travel for Good program. Courtney will receive an all-expense-paid voluntourism trip to Central America to assist and help improve the lives of animals in developing countries with World Vets. In addition, Travelocity will make a $10,000 donation directly to World Vets.“Animal causes have always been very close to my heart and it’s really important for me that people have compassion and empathy for animals,” said...

SAN DIEGO—Paradise Point, A Destination Hotel on San Diego’s Mission Bay, has partnered with San Diego International Airport on a new sustainable travel program. The Good Traveler program, piloted by San Diego International Airport, seeks to offset environmental impacts of travel by encouraging guests to purchase carbon offsets in the form of merchandise or add-ons to hotel reservations. For just $1, a traveler can effectively offset 500 miles of air travel or 200 miles of driving. All of program funds will go directly towards conservation projects counteracting the environmental impacts of greenhouse gas emissions.Paradise Point is the first hotel...

NATIONAL REPORT—A little more than six years after it first began taking applications, the Tennessee Green Hospitality program now has 82 businesses certified. Sixty-five of those businesses are lodging establishments. Among the certified hotels that are part of the Tennessee program are the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Jackson, Nashville Airport Marriott, and the Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Knoxville At Cedar Bluff. Perhaps a first for welcome centers in the United States, all 14 Tennessee Welcome Centers are also certified.Each of the businesses in the program have submitted applications and then undergone an on-site inspection by Skye Con’s...

CHENGDU—China’s Six Senses Qing Cheng Mountain is going the extra mile with conservation and environmental responsibility. The resort, which opened August 1, incorporates all the Six Senses sustainability benchmarks for which the group is recognized and has now taken a step further with the introduction of a Tesla Model S electric vehicle for airport transfers.As the first hotel in Chengdu to offer such a sustainable experience, it is a testament to the eco-friendly initiatives that drive Six Senses. The vehicle, which accommodates three to four passengers and offers generous luggage capacity, travels up to 310 miles (500 kilometers) on...

NATIONAL REPORT—As of September 8, according to Plug In America, 360,236 plug-in vehicles had been sold in the United States. Since the introduction of plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) about five years ago, total sales are on pace to double that of plugless hybrids for their first five years. Today, there are more than 32,000 charging stations listed on the PlugShare website. Undoubtedly, there is a shift taking place in how folks get from point A to point B.According to the most recent AH&LA Lodging Survey, prepared by STR and funded by AHLEF, 11 percent of surveyed properties offer electric...

LAS VEGAS—Global Experience Specialists (GES), a global full-service provider for live events, has become the first general service contractor to be certified to an international sustainability standard for the meetings and events industry. GES exceeded Level One and achieved Level Two certification to the Accepted Practices EXchange/American Society for Testing and Materials (APEX/ASTM) Environmentally Sustainable Event Standards pertaining to the Evaluation and Selection of Exhibits for Environmentally Sustainable Meetings, Events, Trade Shows, and Conferences.GES has a long and ongoing commitment to sustainable practices. Its operations in the United Kingdom are ISO 20121 certified, a complex and challenging international standard...

LAS VEGAS—Hosted buyers, visitors and exhibitors alike can all enjoy a greener IMEX America this year thanks to a host of sustainability initiatives focusing on waste reduction and education. A new charity recycling initiative, becoming part of the Green Team and attending relevant education sessions will help attendees to reduce waste and increase their awareness of corporate social responsibility.This follows the results of the MeetGreen Sustainability Report for IMEX America 2014 which showed a 31 percent reduction in total waste from the previous year. The use of locally sourced foods increased by over 150 percent and food waste decreased...

NATIONAL REPORT—Much has been written about the many millions of partially used bars of soap and amenity bottles disposed of each year. Thanks to Clean the World and other nonprofits, a sizable amount of that waste is now being repurposed. But what about k cups, those little single-serve beverage (mostly coffee) pods used in Keurig Green Mountain brewers? According to research by data firm NPD Group, 40 percent of Canadian homes have a single-serving coffee brewer. In the United States that number is closer to 30 percent. An estimated 20+ billion k cups will be consumed in 2015. Many...

DETROIT—Thom Connors, SMG Regional Vice President and General Manager of Cobo Center, announced that Cobo Center has received the Convention Industry Council’s Accepted Practices Exchange (APEX) certification, by the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC), a nonprofit, membership-based professional organization, and spearheaded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which provides educational resources to planners, suppliers, and venues seeking to meet the ever-rising standards consumers set for sustainable meetings.The GMIC award is the fourth for Cobo Center related to sustainability efforts. In 2012, Cobo became the largest Green Venues Michigan facility. In 2014, Cobo was designated an EcoWorks Sustainable Communities Champion....