NEW YORK—A leader in the New York sustainable hospitality scene, the 100 percent wind energy-powered InterContinental New York Barclay has unveiled its signature Green Engage Meeting. The hotel hosts more than a thousand groups and meetings annually, ranging from gatherings of up to 10 to larger conferences of 200 or more guests. With the Barclay’s no-extra-cost signature Green Engage Meeting, the hotel assists planners in minimizing the negative environmental impacts of a meeting, while raising awareness in a positive way. The Green Engage Meeting offers sustainable food, beverages, supplies, amenities and team-building eco-opportunities, all within a luxurious, urban environmentally-friendly hotel...

SAN FRANCISCO—Honoring its 30-year commitment to environmental responsibility and care, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants will celebrate Kimpton EarthCare Week from April 15 to 22, 2011. From pop-up eco art exhibits to organic spa packages and recycling drives, this national celebration builds upon Kimpton’s devotion to environmental responsibility and will inspire guests to give back to local communities when they stay, eat and play with Kimpton. Local community members, hotel guests and restaurant diners can participate in Kimpton EarthCare Week events and offers in 23 cities nationwide. Activity examples include: • Pop-Up Eco Art Exhibits: Select Kimpton hotels will partner with local...

PHILADELPHIA—StarCite, Inc., a leading provider of Web-based solutions to strategically manage corporate meetings and events, announced a new partnership with the Green Hotels Global program to provide planners with a source for environmental information about hotel properties worldwide. Hotel properties that are members of the Green Hotels Global program will be identified to meeting planners within the StarCite supplier database. Room night and event-related environmental metrics from each property will be available to meeting planners during their online sourcing process. The information will allow planners sourcing within StarCite to easily identify the properties that are leaders in environmental responsibility and...

PORTLAND, ORE.—Highlighting day two (February 22) of the sixth annual Sustainable Meetings Conference at the Doubletree Hotel in Portland was a "Sustainable Meetings Standards" session summarizing the progress of the Green Meetings and Events Voluntary Standards. The lodging industry is anxiously awaiting the completion of the standards—the result of an effort led by the Convention Industry Council’s Accepted Practices Exchange (APEX), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC), and ASTM International. According to Lawrence Leonard, APEX program director and a session panelist, the industry will have to wait a little more. “The standards are...

PORTLAND, ORE.—The sixth annual Sustainable Meetings Conference, organized by the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC), kicked off yesterday with a full slate of educational sessions and news that GMIC has grown to 600 members in more than 30 countries. The conference, which has drawn 250 people in person and 60 “virtual” attendees, is being held at the Doubletree Hotel Portland. Four years ago, when the conference was also held in Portland, total attendance was closer to 60. Guy Bigwood, president of GMIC and director of sustainability, MCI Group, told attendees that GMIC currently has 20 chapters up and running...

WHITE SALMON, WASH.—Sustainable Travel International has launched Green.travel. Green.travel’s focus is to connect environmentally, socially, and economically responsible travelers with sustainable travel companies globally. Founded in 2002, STI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing education and outreach services in the travel industry to support environmental conservation and to protect cultural heritage while promoting cross-cultural understanding and economic development. Green.travel has been years in the planning. Based on what Alexia Nestora, spokesperson, calls “meticulous research,” the new website anticipates surfacing quickly to the top of Google searches for people looking for eco-friendly travel options. Green.travel will help people learn about...

FREEPORT, MAINE—Some of Maine’s finest inns and resorts will slash their rates by 50 percent this spring to support Hospitality for Habitat, a Maine Innkeepers Assn. (MEIA) program that raises funds for local chapters of Habitat for Humanity, announced Greg Dugal, executive director of MEIA. Participating Innkeepers all over the state will reduce room rates by half between April 25 and May 27, 2011 for guests willing to write a $35 donation check payable to Habitat for Humanity.  “Every dollar donated goes to help build homes in Maine for deserving families,” said Dugal. “Travelers taking advantage of the Hospitality for...

DALLAS—Following a successful pilot of the Green Key Eco-Rating Program (Green Key) in the United States in 2010, Accor North America has made a commitment for all Motel 6 and Studio 6 properties to be Green Key certified by the end of 2011. With the commitment, 1,100 locations will be ranked and certified according to Green Key’s sustainable practices, which adhere to Accor’s long-standing commitment to the environment and sustainability. “The Green Key program has been beneficial to our Canadian properties for several years, and our participation in the U.S. pilot reaffirmed the business and sustainability benefits of the program,”...

PORTLAND, ORE.—It’s Game On! as the sixth annual Sustainable Meetings Conference convenes senior level meeting and hospitality professionals from Fortune 500 companies, destinations, hotels and leading green industry associations into an immersive and innovative conference design in Portland, Ore., February 20 to 23, 2011. The international delegates, challenged to solve event case studies in a sustainability context, are now able to take their experience one step further with the announcement of GMIC’s keynote speaker of Dr. Karl-Henrik Robèrt of The Natural Step International. “The question of reaching sustainability is not about if we will have enough energy, enough food, or...

BUFFALO, N.Y.—From 2004 to 2009, PURE Solutions installed innovative “PURE allergy-friendly” rooms in 40 top hotels. In 2010, consumer acceptance and business innovation quadrupled these rooms to 5,000 rooms in 200 hotels worldwide. Hyatt, Hilton, Doubletree, Marriott, Wyndham, Fairmont, Westin, Sheraton, Residence Inn, Embassy Suites, NYLO, and Radisson now offer PURE rooms. PURE is available in hotels in 32 U.S. states and internationally in China, Taiwan, India, Australia, Greece, Malaysia, Aruba, Canada, Caribbean and Puerto Rico. PURE Solutions’ aggressive growth in a difficult economy can be attributed to developing a creative way to help hoteliers provide these badly needed rooms...