MIDLAND, MICH.—Dow Building Solutions (DBS), a business unit of The Dow Chemical Co., announced STYROFOAM extruded polystyrene foam insulation products in North America have received validation from UL Environment that they contain 20 percent pre-consumer recycled content on average. This verification marks the latest sustainability milestone for Dow insulation products, which also hold Cradle to Cradle certification.   “UL Environment is proud to have worked with Dow Building Solutions to validate the recycled content claims for their STYROFOAM Insulation Products,” said Lisa Meier, Vice President and General Manager of UL Environment. “Dow’s pursuit of third-party substantiation demonstrates their commitment to...

GREENVILLE, S.C.—Discarded soap and bottled amenities left behind by guests at JHM Hotels’ properties now have a second life thanks to a recycling program from Clean the World that helps fight the spread of preventable diseases.Used soap and plastic amenity bottles from all JHM Hotels’ properties are shipped to a Clean the World Recycling Operations Center, where they are sanitized and repurposed. Clean the World’s simple mission is to recycle hotel soap and save lives. The organization has partnered with more than 4,000 hotels and resorts to put life-saving hygiene products in the hands of those who need them...

NIAGARA FALLS, ON.—Niagara Casinos was awarded a 4 Green Keys rating from Green Key Global acknowledging their sustainable convention facilities and practices, topping off another year of substantial environmental initiatives at both Fallsview Casino Resort and Casino Niagara.Green Key Global, a leading environmental certification body, takes a comprehensive look at how facilities perform in key areas, such as: energy, water, waste, training, policies, procurement, auditing, air quality, and more. Facilities are then awarded a rating from one to five Keys, five being the highest attainable. Detailed performance reports showcase accomplishments while also outlining improvements to be considered.“We consider this...

SEATTLE—Canadian coffee roaster, Club Coffee, recently announced the PurPod100, which will be the world’s first 100 percent compostable, fully certified single-serve beverage pod. “The amount of used single-serve pods sent into the waste stream last year could have circled the earth 11 times,” said John Pigott, CEO, Club Coffee. “That’s not acceptable. We have the most viable solution available to that issue—a pod that will be certified as 100 percent compostable and can be converted to useful compost.”“As a large manufacturer and distributor of packaged coffee, we have a responsibility to our customers, and to society, to reduce the...

NATIONAL REPORT—Much has been written about the many millions of partially used bars of soap and amenity bottles disposed of each year. Thanks to Clean the World and other nonprofits, a sizable amount of that waste is now being repurposed. But what about k cups, those little single-serve beverage (mostly coffee) pods used in Keurig Green Mountain brewers? According to research by data firm NPD Group, 40 percent of Canadian homes have a single-serving coffee brewer. In the United States that number is closer to 30 percent. An estimated 20+ billion k cups will be consumed in 2015. Many...

VICTORIA, B.C.—AP Plastics Inc. is rolling out its newest single-cup capsule displays for hotel rooms. The 4 and 6 hole (SCF4 & SCF6) K-Cup holders will be part of their proprietary Guest Room Single Cup Display System, and will be available to ship this month.The new “ship flat” displays are manufactured in North America with 100 percent reprocessed and recyclable plastic. Their unique “click open” design reduces both packaging and freight costs.“With the hotel industry commitment to green sourcing, finding appropriate sustainable single cup amenities has been problematic,” says Darren Warner, Marketing Director, AP Plastics Inc. “The new SCF...

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK—A new employee residence in Old Faithful Village in Yellowstone National Park has received a Platinum rating by the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) program. The residence was built by concessioner Yellowstone National Park Lodges, operated by Xanterra Parks & Resorts.The project is the first Platinum-rated certification achieved by a concession operator inside a national park. Platinum is the highest LEED certification level and accounts for only about seven percent of all LEED-certified projects.In order to achieve LEED certification, the project needed to meet stringent sustainability requirements in areas such...

According to a recent National Sleep Foundation survey, 91 percent of all people identified the pillow as being most important to a good night’s sleep (second only to the mattress at 93 percent). Yet very few hotels actively manage their pillow inventory. Currently, most properties leave it up to the subjective opinion of their housekeeping staff to pull pillows out of service when they no longer meet the hotel’s standards. This works for pillows that are obviously stained, or are flat, or lumpy. However, this practice does not allow a housekeeper to know what might be on the inside of...

VANCOUVER, B.C.—G-Kup, a Vancouver based start-up focused on sustainable packaging, announces the closing of its initial seed round comprised of several well-known U.S. and Canadian investors including The Charles Edison Fund (The Edison Fund invested as part of their new mandate of supporting innovation and entrepreneurship), Arlene Dickinson (CEO of Venture Communications and District Ventures, and formerly Dragons’ Den), and Lance Tracey (Co-Founder of Peer 1 and Sutton Group Realty).The initial funding will fuel G-Kup’s commercialization of its 100 percent compostable single serve coffee pod.The G-Kup, which has a rigid design similar to licensed Keurig brands, will work in...

DENVER—Showcasing more than a decade of leadership while taking on the challenge of climate change, global hospitality company Xanterra Parks & Resorts has released its 2014 Corporate Social Responsibility Report, defining and measuring its innovative sustainability improvements. The report also announces ambitious stretch targets for the next decade.The report presents details of improvements measured against goals announced in 2004. The company tracks its environmental performance across all aspects of its operations using an ISO 14001 audited program launched in 2002.Xanterra entities include lodges, restaurants, tours and activities in national and state parks, as well as resorts, a cruise line,...