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...

BARCELONA, SPAIN—United Nations Foundation founder and chairman Ted Turner joined the Rainforest Alliance, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) to announce the first-ever globally relevant sustainable tourism criteria at the IUCN World Conservation Congress. The new criteria—based on thousands of best practices culled from the existing standards currently in use around the world—were developed to offer a common framework to guide the emerging practice of sustainable tourism and to help businesses, consumers, governments, non-governmental organizations and educational institutions to ensure that tourism helps, rather than harms, local communities and the environment. “Sustainability...

MIAMI—El Dorado Spa Resorts & Hotels, by Karisma, a premier collection of Gourmet Inclusive properties along the Riviera Maya, Mexico, announced the launch of Pasión por el Medio Ambiente (“Passion for the Environment”), a program derived from the Mesoamerican Reef Tourism Initiative (MARTI), designed to encourage guest and staff participation in environmentally sustainable practices. With its commencement, El Dorado Spa Resorts & Hotels sets the standard for environmentally-conscious tourism in Riviera Maya, encouraging other area resorts and hotels to do the same. “As a destination priding itself on beautiful surroundings, El Dorado Spa Resorts & Hotels is taking the necessary...

DALTON, GA.—Shaw Hospitality Group’s new REmix Collection by Kate Korten comes to life with animated patterns and linear motifs found in advertising and art designs of the 1950s and 1960s. REmix offers coordinated guestrooms and public space carpet in both print and tufted patterns. Korten, whose father was a groundbreaking New York art director in the 1960s, grew up on shape, color and form, which are all reflected in REmix. This background influenced her career and continues to provide inspiration in hospitality flooring designs. “The style of illustrations from that era still strikes a chord in me,” Korten said. “I’ve kept...

SEATTLE—Seattle-based O Ecotextiles will brings its “sensuous yet sustainable” textiles for the first time to West Coast Green’s conference and expo, September 25-27, 2008 at the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, Calif. One of O Ecotextiles’ new prints also was chosen by EcoFabulous.com to grace the master bedroom of the Showhouse at West Coast Green. For the company, whose line with top British designer Emily Todhunter won a House & Garden magazine award at Decorex 2007 in the U.K., their message is simple, direct and firm: Being an “organic textile,” means not just that a fabric uses organic...

DALLAS—The Fairmont Dallas has unveiled the new Pyramid Restaurant & Bar. It features contemporary décor and new organic, sustainable menus created by Executive Chef j.W. Foster. The new Pyramid, at more than 7,000 square feet, resonates with a modern, sleek, contemporary look evoking a stylish vigor and energy. The look and feel are imaginative and engaging and feature a color palette in rich tones of celadon, taupe, gold, and moss with accents of polished bronze, walnut and mahogany against a backdrop of earth-toned wall coverings and dark mahogany flooring. Since his arrival in Dallas last year from his native Canada,...

ROSEMONT, ILL.—Chicagoland’s new eco-savvy and luxury destination hotel, the 556-room InterContinental Chicago O’Hare, is going above and beyond in its quest to lighten businesses’ impact on the environment. Not only does the sophisticated, design-forward property utilize 100 percent renewable energy credits from wind, but the InterContinental Chicago O’Hare also features a green roof, recycles all materials used throughout its hotel and convention area, and helps businesses and organizations support sustainability with its “Green Meetings” program. “The InterContinental Chicago O’Hare is dedicated to significantly lessening our carbon footprint on the earth, as well as raising awareness in our community about...

LANSING, MICH.—The American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (EI) has published the second edition of the textbook, “International Hotels: Development and Management.” Written by Chuck Yim Gee, dean emeritus of the School of Travel Industry Management, University of Hawaii at Manoa, with contributing author A. J. Singh of The School of Hospitality Business at Michigan State University, this new edition explores key issues in international hospitality. Readers will learn about new trends and developments that have changed the context of global hotel operations and management and explore international policies affecting travel, tourism, and hotel development. All exhibits and statistics have...