LAS VEGAS—For the third consecutive year, Caesars Entertainment Corp. is sponsoring Dartmouth College’s Big Green Bus tour across America. The converted Greyhound bus, operated by students, will run on recycled waste vegetable oil (WVO) as it travels the country educating individuals on best sustainability practices. The 11-week, 12,000-mile journey will take the 13 students through 31 states and will make refueling stops at Caesars resorts including Harrah’s New Orleans (July 23), Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino (August 3 in Las Vegas), Harrah’s Rincon Hotel and Casino in North San Diego (August 5), and Cleveland Thistledown (September 3), among other scheduled...

CHICAGO—Protect-A-Bed recently released the only guaranteed way to kill virtual bed bugs—a fun, interactive iPhone game called Bed Bug Plague. Bed Bug Plague is a new addition to Protect-A-Bed’s free Bed Bugs 101 iPhone application, a comprehensive and easy-to-use reference guide on bed bugs, including how to recognize them, details on their appearance and the symptoms they cause. In Bed Bug Plague, the enemy is a continuous rush of bed bugs that are trying to make it across the screen to infest a bed. The objective is to stop the bugs from reaching the bed by building towers along the...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes ECPAT-USA (End Child Prostitution and Trafficking) as a Green Product & Service Directory partner. ECPAT-USA offers TassaTags, luggage tags made by women at The Regina Center in Nongkhai, Thailand. A TassaTag (Travelers Against Sex Slavery and Trafficking) is a 4" x 6" bright, hand-woven cotton, fair trade luggage tag that helps one spot one’s luggage more easily. Proceeds from the sale of TassaTags support ECPAT-USA’s efforts against child sex tourism. Working with ECPAT organizations around the world, ECPAT-USA promotes the “Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children...

SAN DIEGO—The Hilton San Diego Resort & Spa on Mission Bay has introduced a “Save Our Sea Turtles” package in partnership with SeaWorld San Diego to make it easy for meeting planners and their groups to do something good for the environment when they hold their meetings at the resort. Recognizing that corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives are playing an increasingly important role in meeting agendas, the resort has created a new package to help groups provide a another kind of CSR—Care, Support and Rehabilitation—for threatened or endangered sea turtles. The “Save Our Sea Turtles” package, which is available for meetings...

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.—The International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show (IHMRS) has announced its designation as the exclusive publisher of the Ultimate Hotel & Restaurant Buyer’s Guide, an online tool for hotel and restaurant professionals. IHMRS has partnered with Irving, Texas-based MultiView, Inc., a leading provider of digital media solutions to the association world, to release the seventh edition of the Ultimate Hotel & Restaurant Buyer’s Guide. “This comprehensive, 365-day digital platform offers access to a vast network of industry suppliers, complementing the tactile products found at the IHMRS in November,” said Lynn White, show manager. “We’re pleased to offer such a...

PORTLAND, ORE.—Saving Green by Going Green, a new book from MeetGreen, focuses on the business case for green meetings and then digs into the step by step process to put a sustainability framework into action. The term “green meetings” is a common one to most event planners these days. Even if they don’t actually implement green practices, they’ve heard about it, along with the misconception that they cost more to produce. Most books, seminars and webinars on the topic focus on the “why” of sustainable events and then a few go into the basic “how.” Very few have dug deeply...

ALEXANDRIA, VA.—The Convention Industry Council announced that the APEX-led initiative to create standards for environmentally sustainable events has crossed an important milestone. Eight of the nine draft standards have completed review by the ASTM committee where they have been under development. This final vote marks the completion of the consensus process for the development of the standards and clears them for final approval and ratification as official ASTM Standards. “CIC is thrilled to report that the project has reached this stage,” said Karen Kotowski, CAE, CMP, chief executive officer of the Convention Industry Council. “This is a major accomplishment for...

DENVER—Sage Hospitality announced a partnership with Denver B-cycle to become the first large-sized employer to purchase annual bike sharing memberships for all full-time employees in downtown Denver. Sage is also becoming the first Denver hospitality company to offer guests discounted access to the bike sharing program. Sage has pledged to buy annual memberships for each of the approximately 600 people employed full-time at its six downtown Denver hotels and global office. The Denver B-cycle partnership is part of the new SageWell health initiative, which encourages Sage associates to make positive decisions about nutrition and fitness and to set personal...

WARWICK, N.Y.—Impact Enterprises, Inc. was recently awarded the 2011 ADEX Award for Design Excellence for two of its product designs. The ADEX PLATINUM Award for Design Excellence was presented to Impact for its creative and uniquely designed Surfboard Menu Cover. This menu cover design is solid wood, cherry, and has the unique shape of an authentic surfboard. This menu “board” comes with its own solid wood base which allows the board to stand vertically on a table-top, and be removed and reinserted easily. A unique wood frame was created for the “interior” side of the surfboard that allows for...

PORTLAND, ORE.—The Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the establishment of a chapter in Canada. “We are committed to becoming an established GMIC Chapter by Canada Day, July 1, 2011,” said Mariela McIlwraith, president of GMIC’s Canada Chapter in Formation. “Our vision is to promote education and innovation in sustainable meetings in Canada, and support business connections for our members.” The Chapter in Formation is actively recruiting board and committee members, and plans to offer its first live and virtual events in the coming months, said Chapter officer Judy Kucharuk. “As a meeting planner...