MILFORD, MASS.—Travel-related greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) are a recognized contributor to global warming and are expected to grow by 75 percent over the next 10 years unless positive action steps are taken. To help combat this trend, Atlas Travel International just launched their ecoAtlas program to help neutralize this impact. Under the new program, Atlas has partnered with NativeEnergy Travel Offsets to provide Atlas customers with a valuable, cost-effective option to offset travel-generated carbon emissions. “We see this as a way to help clients travel responsibly while also contributing to the overall health of the planet,” says Elaine Osgood, president...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes T2 Site Amenities as a Green Product Directory partner. The Highland Park, Ill.-based company offers recycling containers from the top manufacturers, with a choice of fiberglass, steel, sustainable hardwoods, marble and slate construction. T2 offers recycling products for high profile areas, guestrooms and “behind the scenes” areas. Recycling containers can be customized for each property’s needs. Benches and planters are also available. The company’s website includes product, pricing and ordering information. Go to www.t2-sa.com, e-mail info@t2-sa.com, or call (847) 579-9003.

WINCHESTER, VA.—Rubbermaid Commercial Products (RCP), a leader in durable facility maintenance solutions, introduces its new Untouchable Containers and Lids. The new Rubbermaid Untouchable Containers and Lids provide hands-free, hygienic disposal of waste for more efficient recycling. “Rubbermaid’s mission is to provide products that help end-users work smarter,” said Christen Brooker, product manager for Rubbermaid Commercial Products. “And we’ve made that possible with the new Untouchable Container Bottle/Can and Paper Lids which allow for more efficient waste collection that fits into any recycling program.” The Untouchable Containers offer an integrated liner cinch for easy one-step can liner retention that eliminates knot...

THOUSAND OAKS, CALIF.—John Glen DiGuiseppe, president/CEO of the United States’ first green third-party hospitality management company, Investors Hospitality Management, “IHM”, introduces a new dimension to third-party management: “stewardship with sustainability.” IHM’s portfolio reflects a spectrum from domestic mid/economy level hotels (Best Western, Choice, Wyndham and independent hotels) to international private luxury estates/villas/resorts owned/managed by the company. “An individual ‘Green Plan’ is created, implemented and maintained for each client’s property,” DiGuiseppe explains. “Living and working green is a lifestyle and I believe we have a social responsibility to become greener everyday. By designating Ray Burger, founder and chairman of Pineapple Hospitality,...

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Most hotel electronic door lock systems utilize plastic keycards made primarily of polyvinyl chloride—also known as PVC. The vast majority of these cards eventually find their way into our landfills where they take thousands of years to degrade. Believing that this situation was environmentally unacceptable, Cadmus Whitehall Group has created a new keycard alternative known as Green-Key. Green-Key is an environmentally friendly alternative to the traditional plastic hotel keycard. The cards are compatible with existing key lock systems but unlike plastic keycards, Green-Key cards are biodegradable and produced from paperboard, a renewable resource. In addition, the new cards are...

SANTA CLARA, CALIF.—Watt Stopper/Legrand announced a companywide initiative to make all aspects of the organization more environmentally friendly. President Jerry Mix kicked off Watt Stopper Green during a nationwide conference call, outlining ambitious goals that go well beyond the company’s long-time tradition of putting a stop to energy waste. As a leading manufacturer of energy saving products, he believes it is important that the company minimize its own environmental impact. Mix announced the Watt Stopper Green initiative with the following goals: • Manufacture products using environmentally sensitive techniques; • Continue to develop products that help customers save energy; • Improve resource conservation within all company...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes Roos International Ltd. as a Green Product Directory partner. Roos is the maker of EnVision, a wallcovering that performs like vinyl and looks like vinyl, but is an alternative to vinyl. With no VOCs, it is printed with water-based inks, includes recycled and renewable content, and can be recycled. It is affordable, easy to install/remove, dimensionally stable, and highly breathable. Envision meets Type I and Type II Wallcovering Durability Characteristics and is available in a variety of textures and patterns. Go to Roos International Ltd., write to...

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA.—Go Green Planters, Inc., St. Petersburg Fla., recently announced the nationwide launch of its “Go Green For FREE” initiative for hotels and motels. It involves the placement of lush live plants in guestrooms at no charge to hoteliers. This program is made possible by the company’s patented technology of growing live plants in an eco-friendly soil substitute so that plants don’t require watering for two to three months, and the costs associated with the plants are covered by “Go Green Vendor Sponsorships” and advertisements that appear in the upscale Plexiglas planter vessels. The company has also announced the...

HIGHLAND PARK, ILL.—Hotels looking to go “green” have typically been at a loss to find attractive recycling containers for their high profile areas. According the Steve Tilkin, principal of T2 Site Amenities, “hospitality distributors have not offered attractive recycling containers and manufacturers of aesthetic recycling containers have not targeted hospitality.” T2 Site Amenities is bridging that gap by introducing a wide array of upscale recycling solutions from an assortment of top manufacturers. Hotel guests who recycle at home expect to recycle while traveling. Moreover, surveys have shown that the majority of hotel guests will use recycling containers if given the...

SAINT CHARLES, MO.—One hotel is located in the heart of Manhattan. Another caters to steel workers in northwest Indiana. One in Toronto gets guests from all over the world. Despite the different cultures and geography, all three hotels have one big thing in common: They are all completely smoke free. As members of FreshStay, the online hotel directory with integrated booking, all three hotels have pledged a 100 percent smokeless experience to their guests. Guestrooms, hotel lobbies, and meeting rooms are clean and free of the lingering odor and health risks of smoke, making it easier for guests to...