KEY WEST, FLA.—The Banyan Resort and the Gardens Hotel last week became the Florida Keys’ first certified members of the Green Lodging Program, created by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to recognize and reward environmentally conscious lodging facilities in the state. The two Old Town Key West properties were awarded “one palm” certification for their environmental commitment in ceremonies attended by State Representative Ron Saunders, Key West Mayor Morgan McPherson, Stacey Mitchell, director of sales for the Monroe County Tourist Development Council (TDC) and Laura Comer and Gus Rios of the DEP. “These businesses are stepping up to recognize...

HALLOWELL, MAINE—The Maple Hill Farm Bed and Breakfast, located on 130 acres not far from Maine’s capital building, has earned a reputation as an environmental leader and deservedly so. Even though the property has just eight guestrooms, it is home to Maine’s largest solar array, has its own wind turbine, and was the first property in the state to receive Green Lodging Inn Certification from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Scott Cowger and Vincent Hannan are co-owners of the property and have owned it for 15 years. The investments they have made in the bed and breakfast primarily have...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes Valley Forge Fabrics, Inc. as a Founding Sponsor. Valley Forge Fabrics is a 30-year-old American fabric house specializing in quality hospitality and contract upholstery and drapery. Valley Forge is a family owned and operated business with fully staffed offices in the United States, Australia, Dubai, Italy, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Valley Forge introduces FRESH—Fabrics Redefining Environmental Standards (for) Hospitality. FRESH fabrics are made with post-industrial and post-consumer recycled synthetic yarns. FRESH fabrics are recyclable—and meet all the stringent ACT guidelines and hospitality industry expectations for durability, strength, colorfastness...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Hasek Communications, the Cleveland, Ohio-based publisher of Green Lodging News, welcomes EATware International Ltd. as a Green Product Directory partner. EATware produces environmentally friendly, high quality, single-use products for the food service packaging industry. EATware’s EATplus™ proprietary additive and technology allows it to produce boxes, bowls, trays and plates made of all-natural, abundant, renewable materials that are 100 percent decomposable, biodegradable and recyclable. They can even be used as animal fodder and fertilizer. EATware is competitively priced when compared to paper and plastic products. Call (608) 836-8553 for more information, write to info@eatware.com, or go to EATware.

GARFIELD, N.J.—Wearbest Sil-Tex Mills Inc., the makers of Bella-Dura performance fabrics, in conjunction with American Fibers and Yarns Co., has announced a new fabric recycling program for all Bella-Dura fabrics. Fabrics sent to American Fiber and Yarns in Bainbridge, Ga., will be implemented into a recycling stream that will produce a variety of durable and disposable goods. Some of the markets include parts for automotive interiors, geotextiles, horticultural products and filtration fabrics. Energy-saving manufacturing practices are also used during this recycling process to make these re-generated products. In every case, each yard of Bella-Dura fabric brought for recycling is converted into...

PORTLAND, ORE.—Almost 100 years old, the historic Meier & Frank department store here is being converted to a 331-room Starwood Luxury Collection hotel called The Nines. The upper nine floors will be the home for the hotel; the lower five floors are being refurbished by Macy’s, Inc. and will open as a Macy’s department store. The Nines, which is being developed by Denver-based Sage Hospitality Resources, has Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver certification as its goal. The hotel is slated to open in summer 2008. SERA Architects, Inc., Portland, Ore., is the architectural firm on the project...

I hate to be the one to break this to you, but there’s a big leak in your hotel’s kitchen. It’s a veritable gusher. And it’s been going on for a long time. However, before you send maintenance running with a wrench, I recommend a call to your F&B manager and executive chef. Because the leak isn’t caused by water; it’s from pre-consumer food waste. And it’s not anyone’s fault; it’s a by-product of the way hotel conference centers forecast and produce food for banquets, buffets and receptions. In fact, 4 to 8 percent of the food you purchase will...

NATIONAL REPORT—According to the American Hotel & Lodging Assn., there are approximately 4.4 million guestrooms in the United States. It is pretty safe to assume there is at least one mattress in each room. Assuming a thickness of 12 inches per mattress, the industry’s mattresses, stacked on top of one another, would reach 636 miles into the sky. With mattresses replaced every seven years, on average, it is obvious the lodging industry has a huge waste management issue on its hands. Where do mattresses go when they are no longer useable? Most end up in landfills. Liability and hygiene issues...

Twenty-three cubic feet of space. That is how much room an average mattress occupies after it has been discarded in a landfill. As described in an article now appearing on Green Lodging News, the U.S. lodging industry has about a 636-mile-high pile of mattresses in use and waiting to be discarded. That is one impressive mountain of foam, wood and steel. Where do you send your mattresses once they are no longer suitable for guests? If it is a destination other than a landfill, please let me know. I would like to share that information with my readers. I suspect,...

LAGRANGE, GA.—Milliken Walk Off Mats, a global leader in manufacturing sustainable mat products, recently launched the mat industry’s first reclamation program during the Clean Show in Las Vegas. “Offering an end of product life option to reduce waste fits Milliken’s sustainable practices and quality customer care,” says Chris Brown, Milliken Walk Off Mats’ global business manager. Milliken offers an extensive range of mat products and services for the commercial, retail and rental markets in North America, Europe and Asia. The company has been the standard-bearer in mats for more than seven decades with an eco-heritage spanning more than 100 years....