LINCOLN, NEB.—April 28, 2017 marks the 145th celebration of Arbor Day. A holiday established in 1872 in Nebraska City to inspire people to plant trees, it became a legal holiday in 1885. To help people across the country get more easily involved in celebrating the country’s first environmental holiday, the Arbor Day Foundation has launched celebratearborday.com. People can visit the website to see what is going on in their local community and also act to plant trees and plan their own Arbor Day celebrations. During the month of April, to help all Americans commemorate Arbor Day, Unilever and Ahold are...

BUENOS AIRES—Unmistakably green. There is no other way to describe the 26-suite Palo Santo Hotel in the trendy Palermo Hollywood district of Buenos Aires. The hotel’s facade, terraces, balconies, patio and roof are covered with plants. A specially designed iron structure on the building’s exterior serves as a support for the vertical gardens that reach 90 feet high. In total, more than 900 plants are spread throughout the building. The plants provide a natural insulation against climate extremes, absorb excess water, and help reduce the hotel’s carbon footprint by 80 percent by providing oxygen and absorbing CO2. The plants are...

Green Lodging News’ list of Solar Powered hotels in its Renewable Energy All Stars section grew by yet another this past week with the announcement of the completion of a 269 kW photovoltaic system at the Ramada Silicon Valley in Sunnyvale, Calif. The installation is projected to produce 426,000 kWh of power annually. The electricity generated by the system is expected to power at least 70 percent of the hotel’s 175 guestrooms, public lighting and three EV charging stations. The clean energy produced by the system is expected to equal a reduction of 8,727 tons of CO2 over 25 years or...

TELA, HONDURAS—Indura Beach & Golf Resort, the first five-star resort in Central America within Curio—a Collection by Hilton, will celebrate Earth Day by hosting a one-hour, informative nature walk on Saturday, April 22 at 9 a.m. on property grounds in Tela Bay, Honduras. Employees, guests, and local members of the community are invited to join this walk to learn about the green initiatives in place at the resort and what they can do at home to join the effort and combat this global issue. Being set within the Jeannette Kawas National Park, nature preservation is central to Indura and encouraged...

CYPRESS, CALIF.—The Ramada Silicon Valley in Sunnyvale, Calif. recently announced the completion of a photovoltaic (PV) system by Sky Power Solar with solar modules from Mitsubishi Electric US, Inc. The 269 kW system includes 996 Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Premium solar modules and is projected to produce 426,000 kWh of power annually. The electricity generated by the system is expected to power at least 70 percent of the hotel’s 175 guestrooms, public lighting and three EV charging stations. The clean energy produced by the system is expected to equal a reduction of 8,727 tons of CO2 over 25 years or planting 203,000 trees. In...

SAN ANTONIO—Hotelier Sumit Dalwadi was awarded P&G Professional’s 2017 “Community Hotelier of the Year Award” presented in conjunction with the Asian American Hotel Owners Assn. (AAHOA). Dalwadi was chosen as the winner after submitting an essay detailing his support of charity: water, which will receive a $10,000 award in Dalwadi’s name. Dalwadi was recognized on stage during the 2017 AAHOA Annual Convention and Trade Show awards presentation at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. The Community Hotelier of the Year Award recognizes an AAHOA member who demonstrates dedication and care for their community and expresses a desire to make a...

ESTERO, FLA.—Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, The Hertz Corp., has launched a new carbon offset program that provides corporate customers worldwide with the opportunity to reduce the carbon footprints associated with their vehicle rentals through the purchase of carbon offsets. Carbon offsets support emission reduction projects, which benefit the environment, in communities around the world. Hertz has partnered with TerraPass, a leading carbon offset provider, to administer the program. The partnership allows Hertz to provide timely and accurate carbon emission reporting to customers. The report feeds directly into a personalized platform, which allows corporate customers...

If you are looking to retain Millennials, you may want to pay attention to their preferences for working for companies that pay attention to sustainability. Absent a sustainability program you will not lose everyone but you may lose your best and brightest. According to a new study, “Recycling in the Workplace: A Millennial View”, conducted by Lightspeed, a globally integrated research organization, on behalf of Rubbermaid Commercial Products (RCP), nearly one in 10 Millennials would go so far as quitting their jobs if they found out their current employer was not sustainable. More than 1,000 Millennials participated in the...

NEW YORK—Humanscale, the leading manufacturer of ergonomic tools for the workspace, announced several new sustainability initiatives that aid in its mission to create a net positive impact on the earth. As the first company to achieve full Living Product Challenge certification with not one, but two products, Humanscale takes sustainability seriously. Never complacent, Humanscale is taking on the Net Positive Project. It also aims to be the first manufacturer in the industry to have Health Product Declarations for all products. Humanscale is also announcing a partnership with WeSpire to provide each employee with content and inspiration to take action...

CLEARWATER BEACH, FLA.—Wyndham Grand Clearwater Beach’s Ocean Hai restaurant is inviting both guests and Clearwater Beach locals to dine in support of local nonprofit organizations with its new You Dine, We Donate program giving all net proceeds from food and non-alcoholic beverage purchases by diners seated at Table #31 to a different local charity selected each month. The March beneficiary of Ocean Hai’s You Dine, We Donate program is The Humane Society of Pinellas County. The Humane Society of Pinellas has been caring for animals within their community since 1949, providing life-saving services to help keep the citizens of Pinellas...