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Waste Management

From the guestroom to the loading dock, waste is a perpetual challenge for hoteliers. Fortunately, there are many ways to reduce waste—through intelligent purchasing, packaging, recycling and education. Got a great idea about how to turn green into gold? Contact Glenn Hasek, editor, at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at: greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.

Waste Management

Home Waste Management
From the guestroom to the loading dock, waste is a perpetual challenge for hoteliers. Fortunately, there are many ways to reduce waste—through intelligent purchasing, packaging, recycling and education. Got a great idea about how to turn green into gold? Contact Glenn Hasek, editor, at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at: greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.

The Refinishing Touch Expands into Canada

ALPHARETTA, GA.—The Refinishing Touch, a leader in on-site environmentally safe and sustainable furniture refinishing, re-upholstering and armoire modification for private and public organizations, has extended its operations with a new division in Canada. Headquartered in Toronto, The Refinishing Touch Canada is the company’s first international company and administrative division. It will support the company’s refinishing, reupholstery, and remanufacturing crews located in Canada. The office staff will report directly to The Refinishing Touch headquarters in Alpharetta, Ga. The new division will service The Refinishing Touch’s new hotel and hospitality clients across Canada. “Canada has a robust hospitality industry, with an estimated 270,000...

NRA Show Exhibitors Donated Nearly 42,000 Meals

CHICAGO—The National Restaurant Association announced that exhibiting companies at its 2012 Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show—held May 5 to 8 at Chicago’s McCormick Place—have donated more than 41,710 meals to the Greater Chicago Food Depository (GCFD).“Donating surplus food from the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show is a long-time tradition we are proud to uphold,” said Jack Crawford, convention chair for NRA Show 2012 and president and CEO of Ground Round Independent Owners Cooperative, LLC. “The generosity of our exhibiting companies this year is amazing, as the number of meals donated this year exceeded the number of meals donated last year...

Crossville Introduces Origins Glass Mosaics

CROSSVILLE, TENN.—Crossville, a maker of sustainable tile products, introduces Origins Glass mosaics, a new take on Old-World craftsmanship. Made of post-consumer recycled glass, Origins Glass requires a minimal amount of materials for production, yet its textured, swirled and iridized surfaces create great visual depth and give the appearance of hand-made glass. The line comprises 20 colors in five groupings: Air, Water, Fire, Earth and Universe—all inspired by nature.Designed by one of the industry’s most respected color forecasters, Barbara Schirmeister, ASID, DC, CAUS, the line has a clear, luminescent quality.“Specifiers and homeowners alike may mix, match and blend these hues...

Hanwha Surfaces Unveils Five New HanStone Quartz Colors

ATLANTA—Hanwha Surfaces, a global manufacturer of quartz and acrylic solid surfaces, highlighted their commercial focus as well as the launch of five new colors in their HanStone Quartz line at the recent HD Expo in Las Vegas.“With Hanstone’s May launch of five new colors, including the revolutionary six-color, Rolling Stone design and the post- consumer recycled Homebrewed design, HD Expo connected today’s design community with the color options they demand,” said Bob Paradiso, Hanwha Surfaces vice president of sales and marketing.  Homebrewed adds a neutral, earthy element to the existing five recycled products in the HanStone line that can...

Indianapolis’ CityWay Development Includes LEED Eligible Alexander Hotel

INDIANAPOLIS—CityWay, a transformative new 14-acre neighborhood in the heart of downtown Indianapolis, is incorporating a number of sustainable initiatives into the new community, including plentiful green space, energy and water efficiency, a recycling program, enhanced indoor environmental quality, carpooling and electric vehicle support. It is also pursuing LEED certification for the new Alexander Hotel, a Dolce Hotel, affirming CityWay’s support for environmentally-conscious design, construction and living for downtown.“Sustainable living and working are central to the vision for CityWay,” said Scott Travis, senior development director of Buckingham Companies. “From the construction phase through its completion, CityWay will remain on the...

Gaylord Hotels Partners with Clean the World to Recycle Soap, Bottled Amenities

ORLANDO—Gaylord Hotels has deepened its commitment to sustainability by partnering with Clean the World to recycle soaps and bottled amenities at all four Gaylord properties in North America—Gaylord National (Washington, D.C.), Gaylord Opryland (Nashville), Gaylord Palms (Orlando), and Gaylord Texan (Dallas).Clean the World projects that the entire Gaylord Hotels portfolio, representing 8,050 hotel rooms, will collect nearly 447,000 soap bars (more than 84,000 pounds of soap) and 62,500 pounds of bottled amenities (shampoos, conditioners, body washes, lotions and gels) annually for distribution to children and families in domestic homeless shelters, women’s shelters, and rescue missions. The sanitized and recycled...

Massachusetts DEP Preparing Regulations Banning Hotels, Other Businesses from Discarding Food Waste

BOSTON—Regulations proposed in Massachusetts by that state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will ban commercial businesses, including hotels, from discarding food waste. Greg Cooper, director of consumer programs for the DEP, expects the regulations to be implemented by the middle of 2014. “My feeling is that it is highly unlikely it will not happen,” Cooper said. The DEP is currently in the process of holding a series of stakeholder meetings in order to develop a framework of what the ban will look like. Those discussions are taking place monthly. The framework for the regulations will done by fall, followed...

Green Products Abundant at Annual Hospitality Design Expo

LAS VEGAS—Hoteliers, designers, architects and others seeking green product and service options had a plethora to choose from at this year’s Hospitality Design Expo + Conference. The May 15 to 17 event was held at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas. Attendance was up 15 percent from last year, according to show organizers, with about 7,000 in attendance and more than 900 exhibitors. There were many first-time green exhibitors, offering items ranging from hotel drinking water systems to energy-efficient LED light bulbs to a bed that transforms into a heat chamber to effectively kill dust mites...

Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite Expansion Earns Double Silver LEED Certification

FISH CAMP, CALIF.—Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts has earned double Silver LEED certification at Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite, an all-season resort located just outside of Yosemite National Park in Fish Camp, Calif. Both certifications follow a yearlong project that expanded Tenaya’s banquet, event and meeting spaces and office area, plus added a destination spa.Delaware North, which owns and operates Tenaya, followed a process laid out by its environmental program, GreenPath, to ensure environmental stewardship and measurable green practices. The company worked with Layton Construction Company and architect Peter Grove of Collaborative Design Studio.The Silver LEED-certified expansion brings Tenaya...

Interface Finalizes Partnership with The Carpet Recyclers

LAGRANGE, GA.—Interface, a designer and producer of modular carpet tile, is finalizing a strategic partnership with The Carpet Recyclers, a La Mirada, Calif.-based business that, since its establishment two years ago, has diverted more than 150 million pounds of used carpet from West Coast landfills, saved more than 15 million gallons of oil and created more than 100 green jobs. In sealing the relationship, Interface is following through on an aggressive expansion of its own carpet recycling system, ReEntry, to encompass carpet recycling specialists in regional hubs throughout North America. “In a nutshell,” explained John Wells, Interface Americas president, “Interface’s...