NEW YORK—Beyond Green, a global portfolio of planet Earth’s most sustainable hotels, has announced the launch of its first-ever Global Impact Report underscoring the brand’s commitment to sustainability and the effect of its member portfolio’s worldwide ESG initiatives. The report, available online at www.staybeyondgreen.com/GIR, utilizes data resulting from a Beyond Green member sustainability survey to demonstrate the power of sustainable tourism in safeguarding the planet’s natural environment, celebrating cultural heritage, and enhancing the lives of local communities—representing the future of travel. Established by Preferred Travel Group in April 2021, Beyond Green unites sustainability leaders worldwide to transform the travel industry with each member property vetted...

SANTA CRUZ, CALIF.—Steeped Coffee, a Certified B Corporation, and a pioneer in the single serve compostable coffee industry, has teamed up with ADDICTIVE Coffee Roasters to serve the hospitality industry. With a process brewed like tea, Steeped is helping to make quality coffee from hundreds of top brands accessible and sustainable. Steeped Packs contain craft-roasted, freshly ground pre-portioned coffee that is triple nitro-sealed to guarantee each perfect, “Barista-Approved” cup. The company’s Guilt-Free Packing is commercially compostable, from the outer packaging to the inner Steeped Brew Bags. No pods or plugs required. “At Steeped, we are changing the way people view single-serve coffee, delivering all...

SAN FRANCISCO—Steeped Coffee, a Certified B Corp, is celebrating National Gourmet Coffee Day this January 18 with a non-traditional ask for gourmet coffee lovers—reduce your coffee waste. Steeped is leading a movement to reduce the world’s dependence on non-recyclable, single-serve coffee pods, and has pioneered a revolutionary single-serve brewing method that preserves the full flavor of gourmet coffee while being fully compostable and requiring no brewing machinery. More than 10 billion single-serve coffee pods end up in landfills each year. The number of pods consumed since 2009 could wrap around the planet more than 500 times. With a process brewed...

PALMA DE MALLORCA, SPAIN—Iberostar Group, a leader in responsible tourism, unveiled its new roadmap showcasing its commitment to circular economy principles at the 28th edition of the United Nations Conference (COP28) in Dubai, at the UNWTO event: Tourism United for Climate Action—Delivering on the Commitments of the Glasgow Declaration. Its latest report serves as a bold statement of intent, signaling a commitment to drive value and continuous improvement at its destinations. It also outlines Iberostar’s progress on decarbonization, waste management, and reduction of single-use plastics, including learnings from its first approaches. Innovation and collaboration stand as paramount pillars in shaping the value chain, with the report emphasizing their pivotal roles. The collaborative...

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, CALIF.—Yosemite Hospitality, a subsidiary of Aramark and the authorized concessioner of Yosemite National Park, announced significant wins in its effort to remove single-use plastic bottles from its retail and dining establishments. All beverages packaged in single-use plastic bottles have been replaced with alternatives that use glass or aluminum packaging—materials that are far more recyclable and otherwise environmentally preferable than their plastic counterparts. “Starting 2023 without single-use plastic bottles was a huge step forward in our sustainability efforts and delivers on our commitment to be great stewards of this incredible park,” said Weston Spiegl, Vice President of Operations,...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—A new report highlights the urgent need for reusable beverage packaging as a solution to the global plastic crisis. The report, produced by ocean advocacy group Oceana, shows that just a 10-percentage point increase in reusable beverage packaging by 2030 could eliminate over 1 trillion single-use plastic bottles and cups and prevent up to 153 billion of these containers from entering our world’s oceans and waterways. Stacked on top of each other, the avoided 1 trillion bottles and cups could reach to the moon and back over 300 times. Global beverage leaders, including The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo, have enormous existing reusable...

MIAMI—Club Med, the pioneer of the all-inclusive concept, announced a variety of new developments including three forthcoming international resorts—the brand’s first resort in South Africa and the first Exclusive Collection (5-Star) resort in South America. These new openings will reinforce Club Med’s shift to exclusively offer 4 and 5-star products and the brand’s ambition to expand its portfolio with three to five openings or renovations per year. Additionally, the brand continues to build on its Happy to Care corporate social responsibility program with a new environmental certification at Club Med Tignes and additional developments in North America. New Beach & Safari Resort: Club Med...

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN—Scandic has reached a sustainability milestone by recertifying all of its previously ecolabeled hotels according to the Nordic Swan Ecolabel’s new, tougher environmental requirements. More than 88 percent of Scandic’s hotels are ecolabeled and the company is continuing its efforts to ensure that all hotels are certified by the Nordic Swan Ecolabel. The Nordic Swan Ecolabel is the official environmental certification in the Nordic countries. It updates its requirements approximately every four years, and the most recent update in 2023 included higher environmental goals. To continue to be certified, Scandic’s ecolabeled hotels have now undergone a rigorous recertification process...

PLYMOUTH, MINN.—A new study reveals that coffee capsules made with Ingeo PLA biopolymer from NatureWorks outperform aluminum, conventional plastics, and other compostable capsules when it comes to sustainability performance. The independent study conducted by Netherlands-based Wageningen Food & Biobased Research, a part of Wageningen University & Research (WUR), assessed the environmental impact and circularity of single-use coffee capsules made from compostable biobased materials, aluminum, and conventional plastics through multiple end-of-life scenarios including industrial composting, recycling, incineration, and landfill. The study also accounted for the fate of the spent coffee grounds within these capsules, finding that compostable capsules keep both the coffee grounds and capsule materials...

ODESSA, FLA.—Green Lodging News has added ReadyCare Industries to its Green Product & Service Directory in the “Amenities/Dispensers/Toiletries” category. ReadyCare is a leading provider of personal care amenities, supplies & private label solutions to world-class hotels, spas, health clubs & golf clubs. For over 30 years, Denver-based ReadyCare has helped thousands of properties deliver great experiences by ensuring their personal care offering aligns with their brand & their customers. ReadyCare offers many green solutions, from refillable dispensers that reduce traditional in-room bottle waste, along with biodegradable in-room amenities created with new environmentally friendly polymers, to renewable bamboo combs and...