The economic situation in 2009 led to a dire year for the lodging industry. Room occupancy is estimated to have fallen to around 55 percent, a drop that has only been matched twice since the 1920s. Revenue per available room, one of the main measurements for profitability in the hospitality industry, was off by 17 percent when compared to the previous year, with an even bigger drop for the luxury segment. Although 2010 is expected to bring the green shoots of recovery, hotels are currently struggling. Despite these hardships, customers expect hotels to continue to maintain high standards. This includes...

ALPHARETTA, GA.—The Refinishing Touch, a specialist in environmentally safe and sustainable on-site furniture refinishing, upholstery and armoire modifications, has launched a government-approved television recycling program that will reduce the amount of electronic waste created by its customer organizations during furniture remodeling projects. The Refinishing Touch has experience gained from working with some of the largest organizations in the country, from hotel chains such as Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, Wyndham and Starwood to government organizations such as The White House, U.S. Congress, Department of Defense, U.S. military forces, and the U.S. Coastguard. In recent years, several hotel chains have commissioned The...

VANCOUVER, B.C.—Waste-Not-Basket Inc. has just released a new recycling basket. The plastic baskets are a natural follow-up to a wicker recycling basket first introduced more than 10 years ago by Susan Memory, company president and founder. “We continue to provide a way for hotel guests to divert waste from landfills, pump up employee morale and save properties money,” she says. “And the baskets look nice and are easy to handle.” The baskets are made from a minimum of 80 percent recycled content. Their unique stacking capability makes them streamlined for shipping and transport, so they are low emission delivery...

RALEIGH, N.C.—In October, the Raleigh Convention Center joined an elite group of convention centers—those that have earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. In Raleigh’s case, it earned LEED Silver, joining the Phoenix Convention Center, Spokane (Wash.) Convention Center Expansion, and the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Ore., as LEED Silver recipients. The Raleigh facility earned the LEED designation a little more than a year after the center opened in September 2008. The Raleigh Convention Center is owned and managed by the City of Raleigh. According to Laurie Okun, director of...

BETHESDA, MD.—Now that’s a lot of cooking oil. According to Brad Nelson, corporate chef and vice president of culinary for Marriott International, the company’s hotels in North America generate about 5.5 million pounds of used cooking oil each year. Add in the properties outside North America and that number just about doubles. With so much spent cooking oil to deal with, what’s a company the size of Marriott to do? This past summer the company started a test program at just a few properties in the Washington, D.C. area that resulted in the cooking oil being converted to biodiesel....

HONOLULU, HAWAII—Outrigger Enterprises Group received the inaugural “Green Leader Award” recently from Reynolds Recycling for being top recycling and sustainability leaders in Hawaii’s tourism industry. Outrigger’s owned and operated hotels in Waikiki have prevented more than 48,000 pounds of recyclable material from entering Honolulu’s landfill by recovering more than one million beverage containers from their guestrooms since 2006. “With over 4,000 guest rooms in Waikiki, we realized that our combined efforts could make a significant impact in keeping Hawaii green,” said David Carey, president and CEO of Outrigger Enterprises Group. “Hawaii’s beauty rests heavily on our pristine environment and as...

PATTERSON, N.Y.—Golden Group International, Ltd. (GGI) recently introduced Sani SAC to the hospitality industry. It is a sanitary, sealable, degradable plastic bag, and is the company’s environmentally friendly solution for the disposal of tampons/napkins, diapers and other similar items in public restrooms. GGI has created a 50-bag box, a 125-bag roll and a 5-bag handi-pack that can be used as a courtesy item in a hotel room. Jackie Transue, president of GGI, said she had the idea for founding GGI in 2007 while traveling on business as the president of her own mortgage company. She said practically every restroom in...

BROOMFIELD, COLO.—The government’s recent Cash for Clunkers program helped the environment by getting thousands of gas-guzzling cars off the roads. Now, PhoneSuite is bringing that concept to the hospitality industry in an effort to rid hotels of older, energy-guzzling telephone systems. PhoneSuite, a leading provider of telecom solutions designed exclusively for the hospitality industry, and participating Authorized PhoneSuite Resellers have set up a $1 million fund to reward hoteliers for replacing their aging, environmentally unfriendly phone systems. From now until March 31, 2010, or when the fund is gone, hotel owners who purchase an energy-efficient PhoneSuite hotel/motel PBX will...

KEY LARGO, FLA.—The Key Largo Resorts Marina was recently awarded Clean Marina Certification from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and The Clean Boating Partnership in recognition of their efforts in adopting environmentally friendly practices beyond standard regulatory requirements. The marine improvements and newly implemented programs help protect the waters, natural wildlife and clean facilities at Key Largo Resorts Marina. Some of Key Largo Resorts Marina’s initiatives include the use of oil absorbers in bilges, utilization of recycling centers, and the installation of multiple trash receptacles. “We have developed a ‘best practices’ standard which all of our vendors...

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS—With its recent $1 billion in renovations, the Holiday Inn brand has earned well-deserved publicity. Perhaps the Holiday Inn property deserving of the most buzz this year, however, is the brand new Holiday Inn Northwest/Sea World in San Antonio. The 194-room hotel is on track to be the first LEED certified hotel in Texas and the first LEED certified property within the 3,300-property Holiday Inn brand. The hotel, which opened on October 5, is owned by a group of investors out of Lubbock, Texas, and managed by Dallas-based Hospitality Management Corp. Green highlights of the 100 percent...