SEATTLE—The Fairmont Olympic Hotel, Seattle, a 450-room AAA Five Diamond property, is taking a big bite out of its waste hauling costs thanks to an aggressive recycling program that includes composting and the occasional dumpster dive to analyze what exactly is being thrown away. Waste minimization is top of mind, even when making purchasing decisions. The end result at the end of each day is that a significant chunk of what used to be bound for the landfill is now being recycled. The luxury hotel stepped up its recycling efforts about a year ago when it began working with Eirik...

BOULDER, COLO.—Sustainable Cards, producer of the United States’ first wood hotel key card, announced that its eco-friendly cards will debut in Denver hotels during the Democratic National Convention. Sustainable Cards has partnered with its manufacturer, CPI Card Group, to donate more than 70,000 biodegradable cards in a ground-breaking effort to reduce the waste and negative environmental impact created by traditional plastic key cards. The Sustainable Cards are emblazoned with the Denver 2008 Host Committee logo and made from sustainably harvested wood, making them a coveted souvenir of the historic event. The cards will serve to reinforce efforts to make this...

GRESHAM, ORE.—BioGreen Products has introduced a line of biodegradable garbage bags in 8-, 13-, 30-, 33- and 45-gallon size. The bags, which are not made of corn starch-based plastic, utilize a new technology. The bags have sizes that will work for in-room waste baskets all the way up to containers in back-of-the-house areas. The bags, when put into landfill, begin the degradation process when exposed to bacteria and oxygen. The first process is the breakdown in the structure of the bags, followed by the dissolving of the material as the bacteria consume it. This process is called oxo-biodegradable plastics. Plastics...

IRVING, TEXAS—Omni Hotels is hanging up on phone books for good. The luxury hotel brand announced that it will immediately recycle its current stock of approximately 30,000 phone books and eliminate future use of phone books at all of its properties. “Saying goodbye to phone books means Omni Hotels will preserve approximately 217,200 pounds of paper each year,” said Richard Maxfield, senior vice president of operations for Omni Hotels. “Our goal is to preserve more than 18,000 trees over the next decade. We feel good about the impact this initiative will have on the environment.” With this move, Omni estimates it...

BROADVIEW, ILL.—As public demand for green initiatives in business increases, management and public relations teams are constantly looking for more effective ways to communicate the effectiveness of their environmental programs to current and potential customers. In response to this growing market trend, Air Cycle Corp. has developed Online Recycling Reports, an innovative solution to identify, track, review, and communicate lamp, ballast, battery and electronic recycling totals for any organization. Air Cycle Corp. has already established itself in the recycling services market with the EasyPak pre-paid recycling container program, bulk pickup options for larger facilities, and the Bulb Eater, the original...

NATIONAL REPORT—Defining what is a “green” amenity is getting easier but fuzzy definitions of “pure,” “organic,” “natural,” and “biodegradable” can make the purchasing process for conscientious hoteliers and innkeepers a confusing one. The terms can apply to not only what is in the amenity bottle but also the bottle itself. An increasing number of amenity companies are offering greener amenity options. While that is good for the lodging industry and good for the environment, weeding through the terminology and what one amenity vendor described as “marketing hype” can be challenging. Washington, D.C.-based Green Seal should help clarify the green amenity...

IRVINE, CALIF.—Food Recycle Science continues its innovations in food waste recycle technologies with the introduction of the new eCorect system—a high-speed food waste recycling machine, through a distribution partnership with Lancaster, Pa.-based Somat Co., a division of Illinois Tool Works (ITW) Company which was recently named a 2008 Energy Star Partner of the Year. The eCorect system is an environmentally-friendly waste dehydrating machine that rapidly reduces/decomposes the weight and volume of food waste, meat scraps, small chicken and fish bones and paper/cardboard and compostables by 85 to 93 percent and transforms them into a high-quality, humus rich organic soil amendment...

BOSTON—When you host the annual conference of a national environmental organization, there is a good chance you will make some changes to your operations—whether to impress or to meet the demands of the group you are hosting. That is what happened at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel earlier this year when it hosted the Ceres annual conference. Ceres is a national network of investors, environmental organizations and other public interest groups working with companies and investors to address sustainability challenges such as global climate change. According to David Keamy, director of sales and marketing at the 456-room property, Ceres event...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes HD Supply Hospitality Solutions as a Founding Sponsor. HD Supply is committed to doing business in a manner that is responsible to its associates, customers and the environment. With HD Supply’s new ideallygreen icon, the company has made it easy for its customers to identify environmentally preferable products throughout its catalogs and at www.hdsupplysolutions.com. Products marked with the ideallygreen icon can increase energy efficiency, help reduce water consumption, create a healthier indoor environment, facilitate waste reduction, and prevent hazardous materials from entering the environment. HD Supply is one of...

ROCKLEDGE, FLA.—Cheetah Spotz introduces its new “green” product for hotel lobbies: The Interactive Concierge. It is an interactive touch-screen directory kiosk that provides area information for hotel guests, including restaurants, activities, attractions and personal services. The Interactive Concierge will print color brochures and coupons, as well as directional maps, and also offers the possibility to make reservations directly through the kiosk. The Interactive Concierge is an alternative to the standard “brochure rack” form of information dissemination. Guests will be less likely to grab “stacks and stacks” of pre-printed brochures, few of which they will actually utilize. Instead, they will print...