CHICAGO—In a presentation at Greenbuild earlier this month, Destiny USA founder and chairman Robert J. Congel introduced the initial design of a hotel and conference facility that will be the next phase of the Destiny USA project in Syracuse, New York. The hotel, which will feature more than 1,300 rooms, is being designed to LEED Platinum standards and will serve as a showcase for sustainability. “Five years ago, Destiny USA was still learning what it takes to build a living laboratory for environmental stewardship, renewable energy and innovation,” Congel said. “Fortunately, we were ahead of the curve. Today we are...

OAKLAND, CALIF.—Ditto Hangers has introduced its new, intelligently designed solution to the unrecyclable hanger. These new products are manufactured from easily recyclable and more environmentally friendly materials, to keep hangers out of landfills. Designed using two of the most recycled materials, Ditto Hangers are made from 100 percent recycled paper and 100 percent recyclable PET plastic, the same plastic used to make water bottles. “We designed our hangers starting at the end of their useful life rather than from the beginning,” says Gary Barker, the company’s president and CEO. “That way we know they’ll have value on the secondary market,...

MIAMI—The Miami Airport Marriott recently donated more than $100,000 worth of furniture and household goods to benefit the Miami Rescue Mission and recycled more than 300 tons of building materials to help the environment. The upscale, 366-room hotel, which will undergo a major renovation next year, is part of a unique concept from Marriott, in which three different Marriott properties—the Miami Airport Marriott, the Courtyard by Marriott and a planned Residence Inn—are located together on one campus for business and leisure travelers. When the Fairfield Inn on the campus was demolished earlier this year to make room for the Residence...

Three wire stories caught my interest this week and they all had the same theme: compostable cups, plates and utensils. In the first article, a restaurant called the Grille Zone in Boston was featured. It composts all of the items described above. In fact, there are no trashcans in the eating area and the restaurant produces an average of just 15 pounds of waste per day. The restaurant does not even own a dumpster. In the second article, Hilton Garden Inn announced the introduction of the ecotainer, an environmentally friendly coffee cup, in more than 340 locations across North America....

NEW YORK—The International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show may have seen its greenest collection of products in its history, as this year’s collection of exhibitors featured everything from towels with organic cotton and bamboo blends to touch-activated faucet systems that allow one to choose hot, warm or cold water with the touch of a button. Environmental concern was evident in exhibitor booth marketing as well, as vendors used green themes to catch attendees’ attention. The following are just some of the product announcement highlights from the show this past week. HD Supply rolled out its ideallygreen campaign, which emphasizes the environmental...

VANCOUVER, B.C.—JRS Amenities, a provider of guestroom amenities and accessories for the hospitality industry, is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of its award-winning recycling Waste-Not-Basket. The Waste-Not-Basket is an aesthetically-pleasing wastebasket with two, three or four compartments that can each be labeled based on a property’s recycling infrastructure (i.e. cans, paper, glass, waste, etc.). Designed to promote in-room recycling by guests, the Waste-Not-Basket has proved that having it in a hotel room leads to an increase in recycling collected. Since 1997, when the Waste-Not-Basket was introduced, more than 120 hotels have placed them in guestrooms, meeting rooms and lobby areas. This unique...

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF.—Hilton Garden Inn, the award-winning mid-priced hotel brand, announced the introduction of the ecotainer, an environmentally friendly coffee cup, in more than 340 locations across North America. Developed by International Paper, the cup is the only all-natural hot beverage paper cup available that is coated with a corn-based plastic that requires less energy and generates less greenhouse gas during manufacturing. The corn-based coating also allows the cups to be composted, rather than landfilled. Features of the ecotainer: • Made from fully renewable resources. • Compostable in municipal and commercial composting systems. • Requires less energy to produce. • Certified by the Biodegradable Products...

MIAMI—One would not expect a property’s environmental champion to come out of the security department but that is what has happened at the 221-room Four Seasons Hotel Miami. It was about four and one-half years ago that Bob O’Neill, directory of security, expressed an interest in helping the hotel with its recycling. What he did not realize at the time was that he would end up leading the charge to get the hotel certified under the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Lodging Program. “I brought my own personal interest in the environment to this hotel,” O’Neill says. “I had...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—With nearly 2,000 homes and commercial buildings already destroyed in southern California due to raging wildfires, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) is urging the hospitality community to help rebuild the lives of victims by donating gently-used furniture and funds to nonprofit partner the National Furniture Bank Association (NFBA). NFBA accepts and provides free pickup service for used furniture, which is distributed to those in need through furniture banks across the country, including several in California working to restore the lives and homes of wildfire victims. “AH&LA is making it a priority to serve as a link between...

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Green Lodging News has added its second case study to its new Vendor Case Studies section. The case study focuses on the Best Western Executive Inn and Best Western Loyal Inn, both in Seattle, and how they have successfully implemented Upland, Calif.-based Green Suites International’s EcoRoom® program. EcoRooms® feature more than a dozen different environmental products. They include: compact fluorescent light bulbs; low-flow showerheads and sink faucets; nightlights; digital thermostats; non-toxic cleaning chemicals; Nature’s Mist deodorizer; a linen reuse program; and lotion and liquid soap products dispensed from refillable containers in the shower and at the sink. A pre-installation analysis...