MINNEAPOLIS—Zip Express Installation, the first nationwide next-day option for electronics installation, announces the availability of its consumer electronics removal and disposal service. Zip Express provides the only service where technicians remove recyclable electronic items and take them to a certified recycling location. “When handled properly, electronic waste is a valuable source for secondary raw materials,” said Chris Mauzy, president and CEO of Zip Express. “If not, it’s a major source of toxins and carcinogens. Currently, consumers have the option to either move their major electronics to the curb for pickup, or haul it themselves to a recycling center....

ATLANTA—The Rittenhouse, a AAA Five Diamond luxury hotel on Rittenhouse Square in the heart of downtown Philadelphia, has selected The Refinishing Touch, a world leader in providing environmentally-safe, on-site furniture refinishing and re-upholstery services, to refinish more than 700 pieces of furniture in its 98 rooms. While planning an upgrade of the televisions in its guestrooms, The Rittenhouse discovered that the rooms’ existing armoires would be unable to house new 42-inch screens. Rather than go to the expense and waste of replacing them, the hotel worked with The Refinishing Touch to modify the armoires by removing the top of each...

LAS VEGAS—NaturesCast, Inc. of Las Vegas, a member of the Sustainable Furniture Council, has entered the U.S. hospitality market with a line of chic and modern furniture, and décor accessories made from agro-forest waste. A Filipino-based eco-friendly master furniture and décor accessories manufacturer, NaturesCast functional and artistic décor products are unique in that they are constructed from agro-forest waste including dry leaves, dead twigs and barks from the forests around Compostela, Province of Cebu, Philippines. The collected materials are shredded through a special machine and bonded together using an odorless water-based binder and then shaped into a variety of unique...

DENVER—The Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center has begun to implement a comprehensive sustainability program designed to minimize the hotel’s overall carbon footprint and decrease its environmental impact. “Sparked by the passion of our staff and our customers, and Hyatt’s desire to be a part of the solution, we felt compelled to develop and implement long-term sustainability programs that would have lasting, positive results,” commented John Schafer, general manager of Hyatt Regency Denver. “Living in Colorado and waking up to one of the most magnificent views every day is a constant reminder of our connection to the...

MONSEY, N.Y.—Unique Amenities, one of the nation’s leading sources for guest amenities for the hospitality industry, announces the launch of a reusing drive to help change the direction of the hotel industry’s approach to going green. Unique Amenities is committed to its mission of a greener and cleaner earth, and to keeping toiletry bottles out of the nation’s landfills. Unique Amenities is therefore offering an unprecedented rebate on all its returned cartons and bottles, which will be processed for reuse. Unique Amenities’ 100 percent pure New Zealand-made products are vegetarian based and contain GE-free ingredients. The packaging is all 100...

DALLAS—In the current North American hospitality market, an estimated 18 million traditional plastic keycards are discarded by hotels and their guests every week, ultimately ending up in landfills across the continent. Additionally, experts say the industry could save as many as 9 million batteries each year by switching to more energy efficient locking systems. With this in mind, VingCard, a leading hospitality security provider and part of the ASSA ABLOY Hospitality Group, is introducing new eco-friendly initiatives to support hoteliers’ efforts to go green. Innovative recycled keycards are now available to VingCard customers, and one unique guestroom door lock not...

LOS ANGELES—The Finer Designer Wastebasket Liner is now available in a recyclable form. The Finer Liner currently sells a recyclable plastic designer wastebasket liner in seven styles. Owner Annette Savio decided to offer the recyclable, biodegradable liners to hotels that typically use plastic wastebasket liners. “Hotels and cruise lines use huge amounts of resources that can be potentially recycled,” Savio says. “My first liners produced are recyclable and highly reusable which will cut down on using thin plastic bags that are difficult to recycle and usually end up in the landfills. But our biodegradable liners will break down in landfills...

MARATHON, TEXAS—Newspapers guests read at the Eve’s Garden Organic Bed & Breakfast and Ecology Resource Center will definitely get recycled. In fact, they may even end up in a wall or one of the many domed structures at the five-room inn here in Marathon, Texas. The owners—Kate Thayer and Clyde Curry—don’t like to waste anything. Bottles and cans are recycled, kitchen and yard waste are composted, and energy is saved when sheets and towels are hung out to dry on a clothesline. When you put the words “organic” and “ecology” in your inn’s name, you are expected to deliver and...

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.— Valley Forge Fabrics, Inc. has been honored by Sustainable Florida with a Best Practice award in the Large Company Category. The winners were announced June 9 at an awards ceremony in Tallahassee. Sustainable Florida is an alliance of business, government, and civic leaders and organizations committed to defining excellence for Florida’s economic, environmental and social future. Winners of the Best Practice award were selected by an independent panel of nine representatives from private and public sectors involved in the sustainability movement. Valley Forge, in business for 30 years, recently took a FRESH look at its business model....

MACKINAC ISLAND, MICH.—The Grand Hotel is in the approval phase of being designated a green hotel by Green Lodging Michigan. The process was started in the fall of 2007 and should be complete by the end of the 2008 season. Behind the scenes of Grand Hotel and Mackinac Island’s ageless “Somewhere in Time” ambiance are aggressive programs to seek out and implement the latest technology to protect the island’s pristine environment. These efforts include: • The water-based air-conditioning system Grand Hotel designed and installed in its most classic rooms; • An island program that composts all biodegradable waste on the island; • State-of-the-art water and wastewater...