HONOLULU, HAWAII—Eight Outrigger Hotels and Resorts properties have proved once again that it is easy being green by encouraging hotel guests to join the war on waste. The company’s 2013 eco-friendly efforts amounted to more than 27 tons of recyclable plastic bottles and aluminum cans from guestrooms, up from 20 tons in 2012. Twenty-seven tons is enough to preserve more than 200 cubic yards of landfill space, and if stacked end to end, could go up and down Diamond Head more than 80 times.Outrigger Hotels and Resorts launched its in-room recycling program in 2006 at its two Waikiki beachfront...

CHICAGO—Green Seal, an independent nonprofit providing sustainability certification for products and services, launched a new sustainability standard for restaurants and food services in conjunction with The Green Chicago Restaurant Coalition and The Rosenthal Group.The standard, GS-55, covers retail restaurants and institutional food service operations through rigorous criteria that minimize environmental impact in several categories. These include food sourcing through use of foods produced in a sustainable manner; waste management, including food waste, compostable waste, recycling and water quality management; energy use; water consumption and the use of other environmentally-preferable products and services.GS-55 is the result of a pilot program...

ORLANDO, FLA.—The two hotels in Grande Lakes Orlando—The Ritz-Carlton Orlando and JW Marriott Orlando—are among the first lodging establishments in Central Florida to send food waste to the Central Florida Energy Garden. Owned and operated by Harvest Power and located within the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the recently opened Energy Garden converts organic waste into renewable biogas and natural fertilizers. (See related article.)Twice each week, food waste from the two facilities’ banquet operations is picked up and taken to the Energy Garden. Bob Brown, Chief Engineer for the hotels, says about 20 to 30 tons a month of food...

MADBURY, N.H.—Vertal US Inc., a Madbury, N.H. based company that specializes in the design and manufacturing of urban, on-site, in-vessel composters, is now offering its CITYPOD composters. CITYPOD composters’ offer a complete odor control guarantee and numerous technical patent pending innovations that make on-site composting user and operationally friendly. Consumer expectations for socially accepted on-site,in-vessel composting projects are related to total control of odor emissions, ease of operation and profitability.With its new on-site food waste processing technology, Vertal US provides compliance in line with the many new state regulations banning food waste and other organic materials from landfills.John Clifford,...

NATIONAL REPORT—A series of six webinars with topics ranging from water efficiency to green cleaning to window film will launch on March 26 and wrap up on May 21. In total, there will be 18 different presentations throughout the six webinars that are sponsored by the U.S. EPA. The free webinars are being organized by Dan Ruben of Boston Green Tourism and Peter Cooke of the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences. Those who attend all six sessions will be acknowledged with a Certificate of Completion.The following is the schedule for the webinars:Session 1: March 26, 1 p.m to  2:15...

LYNDEN, WASH.—Pacific Northwest-based furniture artist Greg Klassen is set to premiere his River Collection at the upcoming Architectural Digest Home Design Show. River is a customizable collection of modern handcrafted tables that take their name from their inlaid “rivers” of hand-cut blue glass. Made to order and available directly from the artist, River is intended for residential and hospitality environments.Klassen makes each River Table from salvaged trees that would otherwise be discarded, retaining their live edges and inherent grain patterns. His curated inventory of wood slabs include western maple, walnut, elm and cedar. Tables can be ordered in a...

TAMPA, FLA.—Hasek Communications, the Tampa, Fla.-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes Pavilion Furniture as a Green Product & Service Directory partner. Pavilion Furniture’s new Ecowood line is made from recycled materials. The slats are a high-density polyethylene, UV-inhibited and resistant to weather types. The frames are powder-coated aluminum. Pavilion Furniture is manufactured in Miami. The Ecowood line features a broad selection of styles and designs including dining sets, chaises, benches, bar stools and table. For more information, visit the Pavilion website at www.pavilion-furniture.com or contact Perry Solomon at perry@pavilionfurniture.com. You may also call (305) 823-3480.

BAY LAKE, FLA.—Harvest Power unveiled the Central Florida Energy Garden, an organics management and renewable energy facility that is the first of its kind in the United States, converting organic waste into renewable biogas and natural fertilizers. The anaerobic digester combines a unique set of proven technologies and will divert hundreds of thousands of tons of waste from Central Florida landfills.Located within the Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID), the Energy Garden uses anaerobic digestion—a biological process that relies on trillions of naturally occurring bacteria—to produce renewable biogas. When operating at full capacity, the facility will process more than 120,000...

ITHACA, N.Y.—The Statler Hotel at Cornell University received the 2014 Good Earthkeeping Award, the greenest award bestowed by the New York State Hospitality and Tourism Association. The award recognizes the Statler, which has developed a culture of integrating superior environmental management practices. The honor was given March 3 in Albany, N.Y., at the association’s 2014 Stars of the Industry Gala and Awards Banquet.“This is a very prestigious award, and all of our staff and our student-employees are very proud to have earned it,” says Rick Adie, the general manager of the Statler. “Our initiatives align with the university goals...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Restaurant Assn. is calling on restaurant operators to participate in an online survey regarding how much unused food is donated, composted, or sent to landfills and other waste disposal facilities. The information gathered will be used to help develop new ways to reduce food waste in the industry. “Food sent to a landfill represents lost opportunities to improve management efficiencies, to reduce operating costs, to feed the hungry, to recover valuable resources, and to realize other benefits,” said Laura Abshire, the NRA’s Director of Sustainability Policy and Government Affairs. “To help reverse this pattern, the National Restaurant...