LAS VEGAS—At a ceremonial “green” ribbon-cutting event, representatives from the Clean the World Foundation, a nonprofit organization that collects, recycles and distributes recycled hotel soaps and bottled amenities (shampoo, conditioner, lotion etc.), and Caesars Foundation opened a new soap recycling facility in Las Vegas to help stop the spread of preventable diseases in communities worldwide.The Las Vegas Recycling Operations Center, located at 3111 S. Valley View Blvd., Ste. L-115 will serve as the soap and bottled amenities collection center and bar soap recycling site for all hotel partners in the western region of the United States.Thanks to $250,000 in...

Name: Laura KaneTitle: Business Travel Sales/Sustainability ManagerOrganization: Westin Michigan Avenue ChicagoYears at Westin Michigan Avenue Chicago: Almost six yearsPrimary responsibilities: “I lead our green team and green efforts. I continue to promote environmental responsibility—minimizing waste, hazardous substances, improving energy efficiency—doing anything internally to promote sustainability.”Organization’s most significant environment-related accomplishment so far: “Earning our Green Seal certification. It was a huge accomplishment.”  Organization’s most significant environment-related challenge: “Developing a complete composting system. We are currently only doing a small amount. We would like to be able to completely compost our wet waste.” CHICAGO—If you visit the Westin Michigan Avenue Chicago...

ROCHESTER, N.Y.—The Green Hotel Pilot Program, funded by the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute (NYSP2I), was created in order to engage New York State’s lodging properties and understand key environmental challenges affecting this industry. The goal of the program was to assist lodging properties in reducing their environmental footprint while saving operating costs as well as increase revenue by attracting environmentally conscious tourists. In addition, those participating in the certification process would have the opportunity to increase the number of certified green hotels in New York and be featured in green tourism marketing.In the spring of 2009 in...

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, COLO.—The Sheraton Steamboat Resort, Steamboat’s only full-service luxury ski-in/ski-out resort and conference center, announced that its Green Team has implemented numerous sustainability initiatives to help make the resort as eco-friendly as possible.The Sheraton Steamboat has partnered with Clean the World, a charitable organization that recycles discarded hotel soap and bottled shampoo products, sending them to communities in need worldwide to help prevent the millions of deaths caused by hygiene-related illnesses. Since the partnership began in June 2011, the Sheraton Steamboat has recycled 691 pounds of bottled amenities and 504 pounds of soap, which have been used to...

NATIONAL REPORT—All Elements and Alofts have them. So do all Home2 Suites by Hilton properties. Drury Hotels Company is in the process of rolling them out to its branded properties and Four Points by Sheraton branded hotels will have them in their guestrooms by the end of this year. Many other properties either have them or are testing them. What they all have or will have are amenity dispensers. Replacing or complementing the small amenity soaps, shampoos, conditioners, bath gels and lotions that travelers are used to, amenity dispensers can reduce amenity-related costs significantly and dramatically stem the flow...

ST. LOUIS—Drury Hotels Company, a family owned and operated company based in St. Louis, is in the process of rolling out amenity dispensers in the bathrooms of its guestrooms in all 123 of its Drury branded properties. The five Drury brands include Drury Inn & Suites, Drury Inn, Drury Suites, Drury Plaza Hotel, and Pear Tree Inn by Drury. Drury properties can be found in 20 states. Alison Casler, director of training and communication for Drury Hotels Company, says the new dispenser standard will save the purchase and disposal of at least 1.8 million amenity bottles a year. Drury...

SEATTLE—Furthering its commitment to sustainable hotel operations and guest services, Seattle’s Cedarbrook Lodge announces additions to its sustainability initiatives, including electric vehicle (EV) charging stations powered by ECOtality, Inc., and freshly filtered and purified drinking water through a partnership with Nordaq FRESH. “Since its inception, Cedarbrook has strived to be a leader in responsible, ‘green’ hotel operations,” said Scott Ostrander, general manager of Cedarbrook Lodge. “We’re excited to launch several new elements and additions to our extensive sustainability initiatives both on the operational and guest service levels of the property.” Cedarbrook is the first hotel in Washington state to partner with...

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, COLO.—Its tracking mechanism may not be the most sophisticated in the industry—it consists of a master spreadsheet file—but there may be no better company in the world at tracking its environmental impact than Xanterra Parks & Resorts. For almost 11 years now Xanterra has been tracking everything from its carbon emissions to the percentage of solid waste diverted. Xanterra calls its tracking system “Ecometrix.” It falls under the company’s larger “Ecologix” program. Introduced in the company’s most recent sustainability report is yet another term—“Ecometabolism”—which is defined as “a measure of resource usage normalized by annual dollars of...

ANN ARBOR, MICH.—To handle a five-fold increase in compostable plastic product certifications since 2006, global independent public health organization NSF International has been named the new administrator of the Biodegradable Products Institute’s (BPI) Certified Compostable program. NSF International will administer the BPI program through its NSF Sustainability division, which provides testing and verification of environmental claims for consumer products, green chemicals, and sustainable furnishing and building materials such as carpet, flooring and fabrics. NSF also provides process verification services, which include greenhouse gas verification, environmental footprinting, and environmental management systems registrations. NSF earned accreditation in 2010 to provide the testing portion...

FRANKFURT, GERMANY—A campaign to reduce overall waste output from the IMEX in Frankfurt trade show, whether recyclable or not, has seen waste levels drop significantly over the past three years. The total amount of waste generated went down from 167 tons in 2009 to 121 tons in 2011, a reduction of 28 percent. As part of its commitment to improved environmental management and protection, IMEX organizers have worked closely with the management team at Messe Frankfurt to implement a series of waste reduction measures over the years. Year on year IMEX has also set itself waste reduction targets in...