PASADENA, CALIF.—LATHER, creator of natural skin care products and hotel amenities, will this summer introduce the Aromatherapy Collection, a new amenity line designed to appeal to today’s luxury hotel market. Inspired by the company’s best-selling retail products, each item will feature a unique aromatherapy blend. Formulations will draw on natural oils, extracts, and conditioning agents, and use food-grade, naturally-derived glycerin. Products will also be vegan, and contain no animal by-products, parabens, phthalates, mineral oil, urea, or petrol-derived ingredients. Each matte white tube and carton will be accented with one of LATHER’s signature colors, making items easy to identify at-a-glance and reflecting...

SAINT CHARLES, MO.—EcoRooms & EcoSuites has added Peter Goren to its Board of Advisors as its newest advisor. Goren is currently the president of the American Green Lodging and Hospitality Association (AGLHA), a newly established not-for-profit organization which conducts research, provides technical assistance and training, and promotes educational activities on issues that affect the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of the hospitality industry. Prior to this, Peter was the co-founder and director of Florida’s Green Lodging Program. “I am honored to be joining the Board of Advisors,” Goren says. “As a member, I hope to convey the importance of educating...

BLOOMINGTON, IND.—DestinationGreen, the free monthly e-newsletter of The Ashkin Group distributed to nearly 4,000 subscribers every month, has been totally redesigned. In addition to the redesign, the seven-year-old publication now also has its own website containing current as well as past e-newsletter content specifically addressing green cleaning and sustainability issues.  The whole idea behind the new design is not to just update the look, but to strengthen the company’s mission and goals for the industry, according to Elizabeth Crosbie, marketing manager for The Ashkin Group.   “Due to our direct involvement on both the national and international level working with...

NEW YORK—Last week, Earth Week, marked Designtex’s second year of carbon neutral operations. Designtex has continued its partnership again this year with NativeEnergy, a leading provider of carbon offsets, renewable energy credits, and carbon footprint consulting. NativeEnergy assessed Designtex’s total operational footprint for 2011 according to the World Resources Institute’s (WRI) Greenhouse Gas Protocols. The resulting footprint of 4075 tons of CO2 emissions this year includes all Designtex facilities’ energy use, business travel, freight (inbound and outbound shipments), employee commuting, and waste. A summary of the report is available on Designtex’s website. Of the total footprint, the majority (3341 tons...

MILWAUKEE—Telkonet, Inc., developer of the EcoSmart energy management platform and a leading provider of Internet services for the hospitality industry, announced that it has established an e-waste Take-Back Recycling program for all of its legacy products to assist its customers with the responsible disposal of used electronics equipment. According to Telkonet, it is committed to promoting sustainability and actively pursues and implements policies, programs and practices designed to minimize and mitigate corporate environmental impact by producing products that are designed and manufactured to meet or exceed the world’s most stringent environmental requirements. Telkonet extends that core value, and attempts to...

AKRON, OHIO—GOJO Industries, Inc. underscored its strong commitment to following sustainable business practices and made public its new GOJO Sustainability Policy. The policy commits to sustainable business practices as they relate to social, environmental and economic well-being. GOJO has a long history of sustainable business practices in the skin-care industry. In 1952, founders Goldie and Jerry Lippman invented the world’s first portion-control hand-cleaner dispenser to reduce waste. In 1983, GOJO developed liquid soap dispensing systems using GOJO SANITARY SEALED refills, a more hygienic alternative to bar soap or bulk dispensers. More recently, the company created GOJO GREEN HYGIENE Solutions, the...

GLEN ALLEN, VA.—Just in time for Earth Day, the Wyndham Virginia Crossings Hotel & Conference Center will share a different kind of “green” with its guests traveling in hybrid and electric vehicles. With its new “Go Green, Get Green” package, guests who arrive at the Wyndham Virginia Crossings Hotel in a hybrid vehicle and stay for two nights or more through September 1, 2011, will receive a $25 Visa gift card. The Go Green, Get Green package includes deluxe, overnight king- or double-bedded accommodations, a $25 Visa gift card, and wireless high-speed Internet access. The package is based on qualifying...

NEW CASTLE, PA.—Berner International Corp., a leading U.S. manufacturer of air curtains, introduces the second generation of the In-Ceiling Mount featuring the Intelliswitch 2 digital controller and the new patent-pending Pro-V Nozzle resulting in one of the HVAC industry’s most feature-rich and effective air curtains for environmental separation and energy savings in commercial front entrances and lobbies. The In-Ceiling Mount is an aesthetic ceiling flush-mounted solution to energy-saving environmental separation for 8 to 10-foot high, 3 to 12-foot-wide pedestrian entrances in hotels, office buildings, hospitals and other commercial buildings when the inconspicuousness of mechanical support equipment is critical to interior...

WAITSFIELD, VT.—In a gala gathering at Burlington, Vermont’s ECHO Center on April 14, Freeaire Refrigeration was awarded the Green Mountain Environmental Leadership Award in the “What a Great Idea!” category. This inaugural award celebrates environmental stewards and initiatives that have encouraged long-term conservation of Vermont’s rich and diverse natural environment, and is sponsored by Free Press Media and ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center. Freeaire Refrigeration is an emerging leader in energy-efficiency solutions for commercial refrigeration and has innovatively realized technology that allows cold outside air to be used for cooling. Freeaire systems greatly increase the efficiency of commercial refrigeration systems...

BARRIE, ONT.—Paper coffee cups are a huge part of our waste stream. In an effort to divert coffee cup waste, Busch Systems is launching its Coffee Cup Recycler to combat this issue. The Coffee Cup Recycler will be making its debut at the 23rd Annual Specialty Coffee Event of the Year Exposition hosted by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) from April 28 to May 1, 2011. Billions of coffee cups make their way into landfills daily. It is clear that if a solution isn’t found to divert coffee cup waste, the negative impact on the environment will be...