HOPLAND, CALIF.—Danny Fetzer, owner of the Jeriko Estates Resort and Winery in Hopland, Calif., recently installed two redwood pergolas with Humboldt Redwood’s FSC certified redwood. The large one is outside the main tasting room, while the second is attached to one of the casitas located on the property. The entire property is surrounded by redwood forests, nearby lakes and the Mendocino Coast. Fetzer chose redwood because it’s durable, reliable and attractive; and also because it’s local and sustainable—sourced from the nearby FSC certified redwood forestlands. HRC grows more redwood trees each year than are harvested while protections are in place around...

LAS VEGAS—Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) and social enterprise Clean the World announced a first-of-its-kind service in Las Vegas to help homeless people. The Sands Cares Fresh Start Mobile Showers Powered by Clean the World is a traveling hygiene unit that visits locations serving the homeless to provide showers, hygiene supplies and other resources. LVS contributed more than $200,000 to Sands Cares Fresh Start Mobile Showers, which was unveiled in Las Vegas on July 27, and will offer approximately 250 showers per week. To reach people in need, Clean the World and Las Vegas Sands have partnered with four Las...

LONGMONT, COLO.—Sielo announced the introduction of turtle friendly LED upgrades for retrofit of existing step light and decorative light fixtures. The turtle friendly upgrades are available in three lengths, 4”, 6”, and 8”. These fixtures are typically found in hotel pool and patio spaces, oceanfront walkways, coastal multifamily, and higher education facilities. “The turtle friendly upgrades provide a simple and cost effective upgrade for owners of oceanfront properties,” said Matthew Sallee, Director of Strategic Marketing for Sielo. “Even cast-in-place step lights can be upgraded without a major engineering project—protecting hatchling turtles at a fraction of the cost of installing a new...

LONDON—Ethical Corp. has published a briefing which explores the business case for advancing social purpose using insight and evidence from Erin Meezan, Chief Sustainability Officer at Interface and Franz Paasche, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs at PayPal— which can be accessed here. Focusing on Interface’s Climate Take Back program and PayPal’s Working Capital, this briefing offers six pages of expert response and analysis to provide comprehensive insight into the social purpose business case including these key issues: How to convince your leadership team on social purpose; How sustainability is driving revenue; and The benefits of social purpose on your...

BROOMFIELD, COLO.—Vail Resorts, Inc. announced that the company will aggressively pursue a comprehensive sustainability commitment, called “Epic Promise for a Zero Footprint”. This ambitious undertaking, announced to employees at a companywide event, commits to zero net emissions by 2030, zero waste to landfill by 2030 and zero net operating impact to forests and habitat. “Everything we do at Vail Resorts is driven by the spectacular natural surroundings where our employees, guests and communities live, work and play,” said Rob Katz, Chairman and CEO of Vail Resorts. “The environment is our business, and we have a special obligation to protect it,” “As a growing...

NORWALK, CONN.—Metroflor Corp. has shared a video series of the panel its Chief Sustainability Officer Rochelle Routman moderated at the Sustainatopia May 2017 conference in San Francisco. Entitled “The Voice of New China”, the discussion features panelists Simon Xia, Metroflor’s Shanghai General Manager and Factory Sustainability Coordinator, and Jin Song, General Manager of Elegant Plastics, a primary factory of Metroflor’s LVT floors. The panel covers a wide array of subjects regarding the manufacturing environment in today’s China including sustainability and transparency, energy and water efficiencies, and the factory workers’ experience, as well as an audience question and answer session. The...

BELLEVUE, WASH.—Expedia, Inc. announced that activities involving certain wildlife animal interactions will no longer be bookable on its online travel sites. Relying on guidance from industry-leading wildlife and animal protection groups, Expedia will undertake a thorough review over the next few months and will remove activities from its websites and other distribution channels. The announcement also comes with the launch of a new initiative committing the company to improving education for travelers about animal welfare. Launching later this year, travelers searching for animal-related activities will be presented with detailed information about specific activities offered through Expedia on a new Wildlife...

DALTON, GA.—J+J Flooring Group marked continued progress towards its environmental performance goals according to the company’s fifth annual corporate sustainability report. Titled Building Momentum, the report covers the company’s environmental and social responsibility investments and progress during the 2016 fiscal year. Highlights from the report include a 23 percent reduction in the company’s energy consumption since 2010—an achievement that exceeds J+J’s 20 percent reduction goal four years ahead of the company’s 2020 deadline. The milestone follows the company’s 2014 achievement of Zero Waste to Landfill Certification, six years ahead of its 2020 goal. The milestones are part of J+J’s 20/20 Vision,...

BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS—The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) has received a €460,000 grant from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to implement a project to increase the Caribbean tourism sector’s resilience to natural hazards and climate related risks. “Global climate change and its impacts, including the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events, pose a significant risk to the Caribbean region and threaten the sustainability of Caribbean tourism,” the CTO’s Secretary General Hugh Riley said. “The CTO is pleased to have the support of the CDB to implement this project which will contribute to enhancing the resiliency, sustainability and competitiveness of the...

NEW YORK—A new report released by international animal welfare organization World Animal Protection reveals that more than three quarters of nearly 3,000 elephants used in tourist entertainment in Asia are kept in severely cruel conditions. Riding an elephant is one of the most popular tourist activities in Asia. World Animal Protection investigated the conditions endured by 2,923 elephants at tourist venues in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Nepal, India, Laos and Cambodia, and found that 77 percent of them were treated appallingly. Thailand uses twice as many elephants in tourism as all the other Asian countries combined. Tourism to Thailand doubled from 15.9...