ALEXANDRIA, VA.—ASTA’s Green Guides for Travel Agents and Suppliers have undergone their first extensive update since the program’s launch in April 2008 to keep up with the ever evolving sustainable travel industry. Among the updated sections are those focusing on ground transportation, accommodations, green resources and marketing. As an added benefit, those who complete the Green Member program and have their Green Member applications approved now receive a customizable press release they can use in promoting their new designation to their local media and community. “There is no better time to become an ASTA Green Member,” said ASTA president...

PORTLAND, ORE.—The Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC) announced the theme for its annual Greening the Hospitality Industry Conference scheduled for February 24 to 26, 2009 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh. The theme is “action=sustainability.” The 2009 GMIC programs committee identified global and tactical concerns facing the meetings industry based on the audience sectors of corporate and association meeting planners, industry suppliers, government and the global meetings industry. The 2009 conference will offer tiered educational tracks for meeting planners and industry suppliers. The participants’ learning experiences will range from “Future leaders” 101 tracks, to hands-on experiential learning,...

DALLAS—Motel 6 is saying “goodbye” to carpet and “hello” to a clean, green, wood-effect laminate flooring in its new Phoenix Prototype and property renovations (retrofits). Motel 6’s new flooring is made of 80 percent pre-consumer recycled material, including an inner wood core comprised of oak and cherry wood chips that would otherwise be burned or thrown into a landfill. The new flooring is also a critical component of the updated Motel 6 design. As the literal foundation of the room, this flooring plays a major role in defining the feel of the space, giving it an updated, larger, and...

SINGAPORE—Alila Hotels and Resorts announced its commitment to go carbon neutral, first through its head office and then throughout all of its properties in Asia. Working with The GreenAsia Group, a specialist in carbon management in Asia, Alila will first achieve carbon neutrality for its head office in Singapore by this December. Further affirming its commitment, Alila intends to achieve carbon neutrality for all of its seven existing hotels and resorts in Asia and to create programs for its guests to enjoy carbon neutral holidays. “Alila’s decision to go carbon neutral is in line with its long-held vision and corporate...

ATLANTA—Spas intent on greening their operations have a new strategic tool to work with as the result of an intensive three-day meeting organized by Green Spa Network (GSN), a trade association devoted to greening the spa industry. The organization’s first Green Spa Congress, held in Atlanta on September 29 to October 1, has developed the GSN Sustainability Assessment Tool—GSN SAT—to assist GSN member spas in their migration to becoming greener businesses. This is the first tool of its kind developed specifically for the spa industry. During three days of intensive meetings, 24 members of Green Spa Network (GSN) from all...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Five Cleveland-based hospitality organizations recently graduated from the E4S (Entrepreneurs for Sustainability) Sustainability Implementation Group. As a result of this process, hotel managers are saving money, reducing their carbon footprint, and finding new ways to attract customers interested in green accommodations and events. Since 2000, E4S has attracted leaders from all sectors who are interested in putting sustainable business practices to work in their operations, products and services. In 2005, the organization added a learning program to meet the needs of a growing network of business leaders and change agents. The program, called Sustainability Implementation (SI) Groups, is an...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes Environmental Specialty Products as a Green Product & Service Directory partner. Environmental Specialty Products has been manufacturing leisure and park furniture made from the highest grade of recycled plastic lumber for more than 16 years. The leisure furniture has been designed to fit into any backyard setting, yet it has the strength and durability to also meet the needs of the commercial environment. The park series includes sturdy recycling and waste containers, as well as park benches and picnic tables. Other product types available include rockers, gliders, tables,...

NATIONAL REPORT—Carpet cushion, also known as underlayment, has been one of the greenest products available to the lodging industry for years. More than 80 percent of carpet cushion sold today is made from bonded polyurethane foam cushion (“bonded” or “rebond”). It comes from a combination of salvaged, scrapped or recycled polyurethane foam generated during the making of furniture, bedding and other products—cushions for car seats, for example. Polyurethane is ground up into small pieces, bonded under pressure with a binder into blocks, and then cut into thin slices of different thicknesses and widths. Used carpet cushion is also recycled...

NEW YORK—The Carbon Free Meeting Coalition announced two new programs aimed at expanding the use of green meeting technologies within corporations, businesses and organizations of all sizes. Both programs were developed to assist companies interested in rolling out new technologies that serve to reduce their carbon footprint while reducing bottom line costs. Based on feedback obtained from organizations of all sizes across the country, the two new programs—the Kick-Start Clinic and Sustain to Save Program—focus on difficulties organizations are having in successfully launching, and then sustaining, such programs to ensure their full impact, value and potential are recognized across an...

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF.—Héctor Ceballos-Lascuráin is to be awarded the International Restaurant and Hotel Awards (IRHA) Lifetime Achievement award. Previously winner of Planeta’s Colibri Ecotourism Lifetime Achievement Award, Hector Ceballos-Lascurain is a Mexican architect, environmentalist and international ecotourism consultant. He is Director General of the Program of International Consultancy on Ecotourism (PICE), based in Mexico City, and also a Special Advisor on Ecotourism to IUCN (The World Conservation Union), The International Ecotourism Society and the World Tourism Organization. The award is to be presented by Mark DeCarlo from Taste of America on the Travel Channel USA at the gala ceremony...