ATLANTA—The Sustainable Tours part of the upcoming Sustainable Meetings Conference has been announced. The tours will take place on Friday, June 19 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Friday is the final day of the Atlanta conference that begins on Wednesday, June 17. Tour options will include: Atlanta Botanical Garden, Atlanta Community Food Bank, Atlanta Streetcar Adventure, Center for Civil and Human Rights, Georgia World Congress Center, Hands On Atlanta, Museum of Design Atlanta, Southface Eco Office, and Westin Peachtree Plaza. One can register for the tours as part of the conference registration process.This year’s Sustainable Meetings Conference, with...

BRIDGEWATER, N.J.—R&J Public Relations, a full-service public relations agency with offices in Bridgewater, N.J. and Manhattan, announces the addition of John De Bellis to the agency as Director of Business Development. De Bellis comes to R&J with over 20 years of marketing and communications experience, including having served as VP of External Communications at JPMorgan Chase. In his new role, De Bellis will be responsible for driving business development activities for the firm, seeking out new opportunities, and developing strategies to strengthen both new and existing client relationships.  “John’s extensive background and ambitious approach reinforces our decision that he...

JACKSONVILLE, FLA.—Pilot Pen has developed the Bottle to Pen (B2P) Line of writing instruments, which are the world’s first pens made from recycled plastic water bottles. The plastic from one bottle can be used to create approximately two B2P pens.“Although most Americans drink bottled water, they really do feel guilty about it,” said Ariann Langsam, Director of Marketing for Pilot Pen. “It’s our shared responsibility to be good stewards of our planet and do our part to protect the environment. A simple way to do this is working to recycle more often and using products that leave a greener...

SAN FRANCISCO—Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants announced that all 65 of its hotels are now a part of the TripAdvisor GreenLeaders program, making it the first major hotel brand to have 100 percent portfolio-wide participation in the program. Developed in partnership with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program, the U.S. Green Building Council, and the United Nations Environment Programme, TripAdvisor GreenLeaders recognizes hotels’ leadership in environmental practices and helps travelers find and plan stays with eco-friendly hotels.Since the 1980s when Kimpton began implementing environmentally responsible practices, Kimpton has implemented more than 100 programs and amenities to make its hotels...

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL—TripAdvisor announced the list of the first TripAdvisor GreenLeaders hotels in Brazil. Developed with the advice of the Rainforest Alliance and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), TripAdvisor GreenLeaders is one of the largest sustainability projects aimed at hotels and has awarded the GreenLeaders designation to more than 8,000 accommodations around the world and 52 now in Brazil, spread through 16 states and 41 cities. The states of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais are the ones with the largest amount of sustainable accommodation with 11, nine and eight hotels respectively.Now on TripAdvisor, anyone can...

ATLANTA—The itinerary for the Green Meeting Industry Council’s Sustainable Meetings Conference is taking shape. This year’s event, with the theme, “Power to Change,” will be held June 17 to 19 in Atlanta at The Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel. Registration is currently open.A featured speaker on June 17 this year is Laura Turner Seydel, Chair, Captain Planet Foundation. The Atlanta-based Foundation was founded by Ted Turner in 1991 and is now chaired by his daughter, Laura Turner Seydel. The Foundation supports high-quality, hands-on environmental stewardship projects that have enabled more than 1.1 million youth across the United States and around...

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLA.—PGA National Resort & Spa has become the first U.S. resort property to achieve the International “Environmentally Sustainable Meetings & Events” certification from ASTM International, an ANSI accredited standards development organization.PGA National attained dual certification in the Venues and Accommodations Level 1 categories. iCompli, a division of BPA Worldwide, performed the third-party certification. These categories are two of the nine criteria developed by the industry to provide event planners and suppliers with specifications for producing events in a more sustainable manner. Staff management, communications, waste management, energy, air quality, water, procurement, and community partners are all...

MONTEREY, CALIF.—The Portola Hotel & Spa partnered with the Monterey Regional Airport to celebrate Earth Day. Today, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Portola Hotel & Spa staff were stationed at the Monterey Regional Airport Baggage Claim area to give away reusable bags made of 100 percent recycled materials. The phrase “I used to be a plastic bottle” was printed across the reusable bags as a friendly reminder of the utility that comes with recycling. Portola Hotel & Spa will also be giving out reusable bags to guests checking into the property on Earth Day while supplies last.“Portola Hotel...

NATIONAL REPORT—Two years after the final standard of the nine APEX/ASTM Environmentally Sustainable Meetings Standards—the one focusing on accommodations—was published, and more than three years after the first eight standards were released, adoption of the standards has been mixed. At press time, just one accommodation—the PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.—had achieved certification to standard E2772, the Specification for Evaluation and Selection of Accommodations for Environmentally Sustainable Meetings, Events, Trade Shows, and Conferences. The resort also achieved certification to the ASTM Standard pertaining to the Evaluation and Selection of Venues for Environmentally Sustainable Meetings, Events,...

NEW YORK—W Hotels Worldwide, part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., announced a new partnership with global music artist and entrepreneur will.i.am and The Coca-Cola Co. to shake up the hotel industry, one guestroom at a time. Together, they are bringing the EKOCYCLE brand to W Hotel rooms around the world, changing sheets and changing minds. W Hotels will soon begin re-making their beds with new EKOCYCLE branded sheets, which are made in part with rPET (polyester partially made using recycled plastic). Rolling out into W Hotels in North America first with global properties to follow, each king size...