YOUNTVILLE, CALIF.—The Napa Valley community of Yountville, Calif., with a population of a little more than 3,000 people, is now home to one of the greenest lodging establishments in the United States—the 62-room luxury Bardessono hotel, restaurant and spa. Set to open the first week of February, the development should earn Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification later in 2009. If it does reach that goal, it will be only the second hotel in the United States to do so. The Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, N.C., is the other. The owner and developer of the property is...

INDIANAPOLIS—Gilchrist & Soames has unveiled its BeeKind Collection. BeeKind is the first Gilchrist & Soames collection to employ an environmental alternative to plastic bottles. The BeeKind paper bottle is a 59 percent reduction in packaging material by weight, as well as a 92 percent reduction in waste space after use compared to rigid plastic bottles. “We are very excited about this new collection,” says Kathie De Voe, president of Gilchrist & Soames. “It is perfect for today’s market with our new environmentally friendly packaging, unequalled skin-friendly formulations and modern, yet natural design.” The BeeKind Collection will feature Gilchrist & Soames’...

BETHESDA, MD.—Marriott International has found the “key” to a greener planet. Effective immediately, the company will begin replacing the 24 million plastic key cards that it purchases annually in the United States with those made of 50 percent recycled material, thereby saving 66 tons of plastic from being dumped in a landfill. The new key card is just one of many advances the company has made to “green” its $10 billion supply chain and reduce its global environmental footprint. As hotels deplete their inventory of existing supplies, they’ll be replaced with new, greener products, preferably developed by the company’s current...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes Cascades Tissue Group as a Green Product & Service Directory partner. For more than 40 years, Cascades Tissue Group has provided paper solutions designed with environmental preservation in mind. North River 100 percent recycled tissue paper products have more third party certifications (Green Seal, EcoLogo, and Processed Chlorine Free) than any competitive brand and are now made with Green-e certified wind energy. See www.northriverwind.com. For additional information, e-mail info@northriverwind.com, or go to Cascades Tissue Group.

CHICAGO—The Talbott Hotel, a luxury boutique in the heart of Chicago’s Gold Coast, has been bestowed the distinction of being one of the first Green Seal Certified hotels in the United States. Striving to meet the city of Chicago’s Green Hotels Initiative, the hotel worked diligently for months and at great expense to meet the environmental lodging standard, which brings with it requirements in waste management, energy efficiency, water conservation, waste water management and green procurement. The Talbott operates on a platform of “Sustainability without Compromise” as staff there insist that green initiatives only enhance the already high standards for...

LAGRANGE, GA.—Milliken Hospitality announced that all of its carpet collections—broadloom and modular—are now certified to the NSF/ANSI 140-2007 Sustainable Carpet Assessment Standard. All collections also achieved carbon neutral certification from the Leonardo Academy without purchased credits. “Milliken Hospitality has made a commitment to certify all carpet products without exception and meet the highest environmental standards for this industry,” said Bill Gregory, Milliken’s director of sustainability. Milliken carpet collections attain carbon neutral certification from the Leonardo Academy with credits earned internally from reduced emissions and forest sequestration. Customers for modular products have the option of ES backing with NSF-140 Gold...

MONTVALE, N.J.—BioHitech’s high-volume organic waste decomposition technology, launched earlier this year, received the award for Innovation in Green Technology at this year’s International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show. The company’s GOHBio 1001 Series was recognized. The decomposition unit, which is energy efficient and made of stainless steel, breaks down food waste into a liquid within 24 hours; enabling it to be safely disposed of down the drain. Resultantly, greenhouse gases are reduced, landfill space and fuel are preserved, and ultimately, dependency on fossil fuels and other foreign oil sources declines. Additionally, overall costs associated with work flow efficiencies, janitorial supplies and...

LOS ANGELES—The California Integrated Waste Management Board has chosen carpet manufacturer Bentley Prince Street, Inc. as the recipient of the 2008 CalRecycle Sustainable Business Award. The award is the highest honor from the Board’s annual Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP), and honors a business that has taken extraordinary measures to reduce waste by cutting the amount of trash it produces, conserving resources and reducing waste disposal in landfills. “As California’s largest commercial carpet manufacturer, we believe we have a responsibility to help move our state toward a zero-waste future as we work toward our Mission Zero goal of eliminating our...

LUDLOW, VERMONT— Okemo Mountain Resort’s Jackson Gore Inn was recently designated as a Green Hotel in the Green Mountain State by the environmental business partnership between the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation and the Vermont Small Business Development Center. This designation is based on the Inn’s voluntary commitment to sound environmental excellence through the placement and achievement of high environmental standards. The Jackson Gore Inn is one of 64 Green Hotels in Vermont to earn the distinguished designation. “This is an evolving commitment and we believe that eco-friendly operation can be accomplished with no negative impacts on the quality of...

NEW YORK—Five exhibitors in five green categories were honored with Editors’ Choice Awards during the Opening Ceremonies of the 93rd annual International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show (IH/M&RS), Sunday, November 9, at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The awards program recognizes best new products within the categories of décor, essentials, luxury, restaurant and technology. The first day of the IH/M&RS was also highlighted by a keynote presentation on “Sustainability” by Christine Ervin, former president and CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and president of Christine Ervin/Company. The 2008 IH/M&RS Editors’ Choice Award winners in the five...