STAMFORD, CONN.—While the majority of consumers believe many of the issues related to recycling have improved since the 1970s, such as “ease of recycling” and the “amount of waste” that is recycled, most consumers feel the amount of waste in landfills and oceans is worse, according to the first “Consumer Tracker Recycling Survey,” released by national nonprofit Keep America Beautiful and Natural Marketing Institute (NMI), a national market research firm. The national recycling survey, conducted online among a representative sampling of 1,000 American adult consumers, focused on measuring consumers’ recycling attitudes and behaviors and, ultimately, what prevents consumers from recycling....

BROOKLYN, N.Y.—1 Hotels, the mission-driven luxury lifestyle hotel brand, announced last month that the newest addition to its portfolio, 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, will make its debut in February 2017. Green Lodging News ran the press release on the 10-story sustainable ground-up development that will feature 194 guestrooms. As a follow-up to the press release, Green Lodging News sent a list of questions to Waad El Hadidy, Designer at Starwood Hotels Worldwide, to learn more about the project. The following are the questions and answers: 1. What about the building's structure itself will ensure a high degree of energy efficiency?...

LANCASTER, PA.—Somat Co. recently announced the addition of a cold weather option, available on the Somat DH-100 Dehydrator system. Used to reduce the volume and weight of food waste and compostable disposables by a ratio of 8 to 1, the DH-100 Dehydrator can now be located and operated in environments where temperatures can fall as low as 15 degrees Fahrenheit. “Our dehydrators are sold globally to a variety of segments including universities, hospitals, hotels, casinos and correctional facilities,” said Doug Cole, Business Development Manager for Somat Co. “On occasion, operators elect to place our equipment near the loading dock or...

ROCKVILLE, MD.—Choice Hotels International announced it has entered into a partnership with Clean the World to collect and recycle hotel soap and bottled amenities that will help fight the spread of hygiene-related illnesses. Clean the World is a social enterprise dedicated to changing lives while simultaneously diverting hotel waste from landfills. The discarded items collected from Choice properties will be hygienically recycled and then distributed to people who are at risk of contracting preventable diseases. “At Choice, we have a comprehensive platform—Room for Responsibility—that outlines our key corporate social responsibility initiatives,” said Steve Joyce, CEO of Choice Hotels. “One of...

RESTON, VA.—Being environmentally friendly is a growing trend, and the Westin Reston Heights walks the walk, taking home the 2016 Green Travel Leader Award. The award was given by the Commonwealth of Virginia’s travel arm, the Virginia Tourism Corp. Located just outside of Washington, D.C., the hotel is managed by Crescent Hotels & Resorts, an operator of over 100 hotels throughout North America, including 14 in the Washington, D.C. area. “We are so proud to have won this award among the countless hotels in the state of Virginia,” said Don Anderson, Complex General Manager, who oversees the hotel and the adjacent Sheraton...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) and the U.S. Zero Waste Business Council (USZWBC) announced that they are formally joining forces to advance zero waste business practices. USZWBC will be integrated into the global GBCI community that drives sustainability across all sectors. GBCI will assume responsibility for the ongoing management and evolution of the Zero Waste Facility Certification and Zero Waste Business Associate programs created by USZWBC, and the zero waste principles will be aligned with GBCI’s offerings. “GBCI is taking another important step toward creating a holistic strategy for green business that began when the U.S. Green Business Council...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) has released the 2016 Lodging Survey—the definitive industry review examining the top trends in the hotel industry. Conducted by industry data provider STR and funded by the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (AH&LEF), the survey provides a comprehensive understanding of sustainability steps hotels are taking, amenities, guest services and more. With just over 8,000 responses, the overall completion rate for the 2016 survey was 15 percent—a drop of three percentage points from 2014. Surveys were emailed to 22,423 hotels through STR using a third party service from www.surveymonkey.com. Surveys were faxed...

ITHACA, N.Y.—Food waste is a major issue for hospitality industry purveyors, both in terms of the cost of wasted food and the environmental consequences of tossing out tons of food. By one estimate, about one-quarter of food prepared in the United States is wasted. A new report from the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) is aimed at helping hotels and restaurants control their post-consumer food waste. The tool, “FRESH: A Food-service Sustainability Rating for Hospitality Sector Events,” by Sanaa I. Pirani, Hassan A. Arafat, and Gary M. Thompson, is available from CHR at no charge. It presents six areas where...

NATIONAL REPORT—Paper or cloth? That is the “napkin” question that is answered in restaurant and other foodservice situations millions of times each day around the world. How that question is answered can have a sizeable impact on the environment and the volume of waste exiting a hotel. Not surprisingly, experts come down on both sides of the issue but most give cloth napkins the edge from a “green” standpoint. Also, as has been discovered time and time again by hoteliers, the kind of napkin presented can significantly impact the guest experience. Several years ago, Milliken & Company, a producer of...

BRUSSELS—Radisson Blu announced its new partnership with the Soap for Hope program, which recycles used hotel soaps to create fresh bars for distribution in local communities with limited access to hygiene and sanitation. The Soap for Hope program works in partnership with Sealed Air, a leader in food safety and security, facility hygiene and product protection. Soap for Hope was pioneered by Sealed Air to save lives by giving free soap to communities with limited access to soap, to create local entrepreneurs and to help hotels reduce waste through recycling. Capitalizing on the success of projects in Georgia and in...