LOS ANGELES—Green Globe Certification announced collaboration with BookDifferent.com, a hotel booking website indicating which of the hotels featured on their site are eco-labeled. BookDifferent.com presents more than 245,000 hotels worldwide, and millions of travelers, readers, and consumers will be able to quickly track down accommodation with Green Globe certified sustainability performances. All Green Globe certified hotels accessible via BookDifferent.com are actively protecting the environment, creating safe and healthy work conditions, and giving back to the local community.“We believe there is a strong green awareness among leisure and business travelers alike, and this will continue to grow,” said Bastiaan Fronik,...

INTERNATIONAL REPORT—WHOLE WORLD Water, a new social enterprise set to launch on World Water Day, March 22, 2013, announced today its sustainable business model that partners with the hospitality and tourism industry to collectively address one of the world’s most pressing issues—access to safe and clean water.Leveraging the potential of the hospitality and tourism industry to spur global change, the model encourages spas, hotels, resorts and restaurants to filter, bottle and sell their own water, and contribute 10 percent of the proceeds to the WHOLE WORLD Water Fund; a fund benefiting clean and safe water programs around the world....

OTTAWA, ONT.—Green Key Global announced that The Hotel Association of New York City (HANYC) has adopted Green Key Global’s flagship program, the Green Key Eco-Rating Program, as its preferred environmental certification system for the city’s lodging industry. New York is the first city in the United States to make this designation.An initiative of the HANYC’s Sustainable Hospitality Committee, the selection of Green Key as its certification partner complements a drive by the association to provide its members with direction in the move to increase their overall sustainability efforts. A Get Certified page on the HANYC’s website provides its members...

DULLES, VA.—In the spirit of inspiring and promoting environmental responsibility, the Washington Dulles Airport Marriott’s all-green meetings initiative has taken root now that the Virginia Department of Environmental Equality has awarded the hotel its Certificate of Environmental Commitment.The Washington Dulles Airport Marriot demonstrates its Earth-friendly attitude while providing meeting attendees with 100 percent recycled note pads, pens made from recycled materials, eco-friendly water service, organic flowers, linen-free tables, paperless billing, online event menus and a recyclable box lunch program. All office paper, plastic and glass from events are recycled as well as grease and cooking oil from the hotel’s...

PORTLAND, ORE.—The 8th Annual Sustainable Meetings Conference 2013, organized by the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC), convenes in Chicago April 7 to 10, 2013 at McCormick Place West Hall. The West Building is the largest new-construction facility in the country to be LEED certified and McCormick Place is committed to initiatives designed to conserve energy, protect vital resources and promote ecologically-efficient policies and procedures.The annual GMIC conference is the pivot point for the thought leaders, decision-makers, and hands-on practitioners who are working to transform the global meetings industry through sustainable meeting practices. The entire event, from education sessions to...

DENVER—The Colorado Convention Center (CCC) has become the first event and conference venue in the world to be certified to a new international sustainability standard introduced earlier this year to promote responsible environmental and social practices in the event industry. CCC achieved Level One certification with the ASTM Standard pertaining to the Evaluation and Selection of Venues for Environmentally Sustainable Meetings, Events, Trade Shows, and Conferences (E2774-11). E2774-11 is one of nine formal, voluntary standards developed by the meetings, conventions, exhibitions and events industry to provide event planners and suppliers with specifications for producing events in a more sustainable...

CINCINNATI—Hospitality Media Group LLC (HMG) has been awarded the International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show (IHMRS) management contract beginning in 2013 and continuing through 2015, according to Michelle Finn, president of HMG.“Hospitality Media Group was selected due to their innovative approach to trade show development and their team’s extensive hospitality experience, coupled with strong operational skills and attention to bottom line performance,” said Joe McInerney, CHA and AH&LA president and CEO and a member of the IHMRS Board of Directors. “We are delighted to have a partner in HMG that also values and is dedicated to providing superb service...

PORT ORFORD, ORE.—“It feels like you are on another planet.” That is how Michelle Duarte describes the WildSpring Guest Habitat that she and her husband own along the coast of Oregon in Port Orford. Their small, eco-friendly resort sits on five acres of 100-foot trees and includes five cabins. “The cabins are built like small homes,” Duarte says. “They are not rustic.”Just about everything possible was done to minimize the environmental footprint of the five cabin suites. Duarte’s husband, Dean, who once worked on Hollywood sets in construction, played an integral part in the building of the cabins. Only...

PORTLAND, ORE.—The Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) announces the official launch of the GMIC Greater Washington Area Chapter. The Greater Washington Area Chapter is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and serves GMIC members and the meetings and events community in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. The chapter’s mission is to improve the sustainability of events held within the Greater Washington Area and to enable local members, through education and collaboration, to plan and implement sustainable meetings across the world.The inaugural chapter officers and board members include Kimberly Lewis (past president) U.S. Green Building Council, Cara Unterkofler (president) Greenview,...

CHICAGO—In an effort to maintain its position as one of the world’s leading green certification organizations, Green Seal has retained Chicago-based AlturaSolutions Communications to help promote the company within the professional cleaning (jansan) industry as well as the paint and coverings industry.Green Seal is one of the pioneers in the green cleaning movement and in recent years, has broadened its focus. Today, the organization works to promote not only a greener, but a more sustainable economy, in which all forms of life and natural resources are protected and social needs and values are honored.The not-for-profit organization was founded in...