PARIS—Euro Disney S.C.A. Group (“Euro Disney”) and Groupe Pierre & Vacances Center Parcs (“Pierre & Vacances”) recently unveiled their new concept of a vacation destination based on the search for harmony between man and nature. The destination would be, in its design and in its operations, a unique model of sustainable development for tourism and be called Les Villages Nature de Val d’Europe (Villages Nature). As a mixed-use resort, Villages Nature will work with visionary landscape architects to develop new lodging and leisure experiences that will provide multiple opportunities for visitors to interact with nature. These activities would be...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes EnviroPure Systems Inc. (EPS) as a Green Product & Service Directory partner. EPS’ food waste elimination systems eliminate food waste onsite within 24 hours. The systems are self-contained, continual feed, organic waste disposal systems. EPS manufactures in the United States and offers a choice of two technologies. Dry technology requires no water or drainage and can be located inside or outside. Wet technology eliminates food waste under water generating nutrient rich effluent. EPS custom designs every machine to best serve facility operational flow and space constraints. EPS...

NATIONAL REPORT—Stack all the pillows thrown away by hotels each year and you have got one mighty high mountain of cotton, polyester, down and feathers. Given the volume of pillow waste sent to landfills each year, it certainly makes sense to choose “green” pillow options when possible. What makes a pillow eco-friendly? The materials a pillow is made of certainly matters but so does where it is made, how well it is maintained throughout its life, and what happens to it at the end of its life. Vendors may argue about which materials are the most eco-friendly but the...

PASADENA, CALIF.—LATHER, the Los Angeles-based personal care and hotel amenities company, has begun offering its bath and shower amenities in biodegradable plastic packaging. Drawing on a new additive called EcoPure, packaging will be able to biodegrade within a landfill and be turned into new plastic products when recycled. This new initiative earned LATHER a Star of the Industry Award for “Technology Innovator of the Year” from the California branch of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (CH&LA, AH&LA). LATHER is the inaugural winner of this award for the state of California, and the first vendor to win a Star...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Interface Inc. recently announced that, as part of its Mission Zero commitment to eliminate negative environmental impact by 2020, the company pledges to obtain third-party validated environmental product declarations (EPDs) on all InterfaceFLOR products globally by 2012. The maker of environmentally responsible modular carpet has also unveiled an interactive report, “2010 Mission Zero Milestones,” sharing 16 years of progress and previewing the challenges ahead in the next decade. Finally, Interface issued a call to action for other companies, large and small, to set bold goals in the pursuit of sustainability. “With the multitude of environmental labels in the marketplace,...

PALO ALTO, CALIF.—GaiaRecycle, LLC, a global provider of organic waste recycling systems, announced the new G-30H modular model to address the food waste processing needs typically found in small restaurants. The GaiaRecycle G-30H system, featuring 66 pounds per day processing capacity, recycles mixed food scraps and organic waste including small bones (chicken, fish etc.), fruits, vegetables, pastas, starches, lean meats, bread, egg shells, and all liquids—plus milk or juice cartons, napkins and plastic utensils—without causing jamming, minimizes downtime and lowers overall maintenance/operation costs. This compact GaiaRecycle model (41”L x 32”W x 32”H) is ideally suited for food service providers delivering...

AURORA, ONT.—Midpoint International announced that its recycling container business is now CleanRiver Recycling and Waste Stream Systems, a Division of Midpoint International.  The announcement coincides with the company’s 20th anniversary and with the announcement that founder Bruce Buchan is assuming the new position of CEO and that David Jarrett has been named president. “The name CleanRiver is being adopted to reflect our continued commitment to environmental stewardship,” Buchan said. “In particular, the river represents our focus on creating an efficient stream of material to be recycled, rather than dumped in a landfill. The end result will be a better environment,...

GRATON, CALIF.—Ceilume, manufacturer of decorative ceiling tiles, announced the launch of its sustainable ceiling tile collection. The tiles are made from the company’s new Ceilume-P40-Plus, a proprietary material with 60 percent recycled content (40 percent post-consumer, 20 percent pre-consumer) which diverts soda and water bottle waste from landfills. Ceilume Sustainable tiles set a new standard for environmental responsibility in the ceiling tile industry, and received recognition in the 2010 American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Bloom Awards in the Innovative Materials category. In addition to using 80 percent less material than conventional tiles, Ceilume Sustainable tiles are fully returnable at...

CHICAGO—This month hoteliers from around the globe will be flocking to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York with one goal in mind: “Powering Business for the New Economy”—the theme for the 2010 International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show from November 13 to 16. OpenWays, the hospitality industry’s first mobile key front-desk bypass solution, gives hoteliers a new platform for sustainability by dematerializing keys and cards and instead sending them over the air to cell phones. Through its new “Plastic or Data?” campaign, which will launch at the IHMRS in Booth No. 2551, OpenWays is giving...

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN—Sustainable Cards, a leading source of sustainable wood for hotel key cards, gift cards and retail point-of-sale signage, announced that Scandic Hotels, one of Europe’s leading hotel chains, will use its wooden hotel key cards in all of its 157 hotels in nine countries. After using an earlier version of the wood card at some of its properties for more than seven years, Scandic Hotels has now decided to implement Sustainable Cards’ new patent pending version of the decade old Swedish invention in all of its hotels. Scandic Hotels, headquartered in Stockholm and long regarded as an industry leader...