April 1 is the beginning of Earth Month with Earth Day being the highlight on April 22. What are you planning? I would love to know.
To mark Earth Month, Wyndham Grand Rio Mar, Wyndham Palmas, the Friends of El Yunque Foundation, and the United States Forest Service announced the signing of a donation agreement that will provide a simple way for tourists to directly support El Yunque National Rainforest in the promotion of its educational programs, conservation, and recreation. Under this agreement, guests of Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Rainforest, Beach and Golf Resort and Wyndham Palmas Beach and Golf Resort will have the opportunity to voluntarily donate $1 to the Friends of El Yunque Foundation when they book their stay.
Friends of El Yunque is a nonprofit organization in Puerto Rico that works directly with the United States Forest Service to promote learning and tourism for El Yunque National Rainforest, the only rainforest in the U.S. National Parks Service. Through guest participation, the partnership expects to donate $350,000 annually to fund the foundation’s reach for environmental education, sustainable tourism development, and youth community programming.
Crescent & Green Key Global
Also, in celebration of Earth Month, Crescent Hotels & Resorts, the nationally recognized operator of hotels and resorts in the United States and Canada, announced a strategic partnership with Green Key Global, the North American standard in Hotel Sustainability Certification. The collaboration will strengthen sustainable practices and processes at Crescent’s collection of hotels and resorts while demonstrating the positive impact sustainable initiatives have in the local community and our planet.
In the strategic collaboration, Crescent Hotels & Resorts will leverage Green Key Global’s suite of standardized programs and specialized resources tailored for the hospitality and meetings sectors, with the goal of enhancing the eco-ratings across Crescent’s extensive portfolio of hotels. Working collaboratively toward the attainment of The Green Key certificate, recognized as the leading standard for excellence in the field of environmental responsibility and sustainable operation within the tourism industry, both Green Key Global and Crescent Hotels & Resorts are committed to showcasing efforts toward sustainability for guests, thus contributing to the preservation of our planet for future generations.
Keys for Trees
Visit San Luis Obispo is partnering with Kind Traveler’s Every Stay Gives Back program to offer new inspiration for eco-friendly travel on California’s Central Coast. Affectionately referred to as SLO, San Luis Obispo’s Keys for Trees program means every guest staying overnight in any of its 42 hotels will contribute to the planting of new trees in the city, bettering the place with each visit. SLO’s partnership with Kind Traveler provides live impact reports and communication tools, making it fun and easy for visitors to see how their travel creates a positive impact and other ways to travel sustainably.
The City of San Luis Obispo has a goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2035, making it the ideal place to visit for travelers looking to prioritize sustainability and give back to the planet. The Keys for Trees initiative supports SLO’s goal of planting 10,000 new trees, which is one part of the City’s Climate Action Plan.
Earth Month and Earth Day are ideal times to set goals, celebrate accomplishments, and take steps to lessen your hotel’s impact while improving your local community and the planet as a whole.
Send your Earth Month and Earth Day news to greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.
Looking for Guest Columnists
Every two weeks Green Lodging News posts a new guest column on its website. (Click here for examples.) The guest column also appears in the weekly e-newsletter. Green Lodging News is currently in need of industry experts to contribute occasional guest columns. Experts may include consultants, architects, designers, suppliers, and those who own or operate green lodging establishments. Columns may be articles that take a stance on a particular subject or be strictly educational in nature. Columnists benefit by having their photo included along with a one paragraph description of their company. Interested in writing a column? Contact Glenn Hasek, publisher and editor, at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.
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Green Lodging News, lodging’s leading environmental news source, publishes the Wednesday Green Supplier Spotlight and Thursday Green Suppliers Spotlight. Green Supplier Spotlight features just one vendor and Green Suppliers Spotlight features multiple vendors. Click here for a Green Supplier Spotlight sample and rate sheet. Click here for a Green Suppliers Spotlight sample and rate sheet. Both e-blasts that reach 19,642 subscribers have been built to generate quick leads. A report is sent a week after each e-blast that includes the number of e-mails sent, number of opens, and number of click-throughs. Contact Glenn Hasek at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at greenlodgingnews@gmail.com for more information.
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