WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Hotel Kitchen program, a partnership between World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), marks five years of fighting food waste this year. The program works with the hospitality industry using innovative strategies to engage staff, partners, and guests in cutting waste from hotel kitchens. By preventing food waste from occurring at their properties, donating excess food that is still safe for people to eat and diverting the rest away from landfills, hotels participating in the Hotel Kitchen program saw reductions of up to 38 percent of food waste in just 12 weeks. Food waste occurs while...

FORT MYERS BEACH, FLA.—The Pink Shell Beach Resort & Marina announced that they have achieved the coveted “4 Palm” designation from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Green Lodging Program, the highest level of recognition. The Florida Green Lodging Program designates and recognizes lodging facilities that voluntarily commit to conserving and protecting Florida’s natural resources. The program’s environmental guidelines allow the hospitality industry to continuously evaluate its operations, set goals, and take specific actions to improve environmental performance. To become designated, facilities must conduct a thorough property assessment and implement a specified number of environmental practices in five areas of...

MILAN, ITALY—Stop wasting time, food, and money. Shelfy properly preserves fresh fruit and vegetables by extending their shelf life. Made from recycled plastics, Shelfy features Vitesy’s nanomolecular photocatalytic technology to reduce bacteria associated with food spoilage and degrade molecules that quickly ripen fresh fruits and vegetables. More than 108 billion pounds of food is wasted in the U.S. every year. Food spoilage is the result of improper storage, lack of visibility in refrigerators, partially used ingredients and misjudged food needs. It’s costly, too. To the tune of $218 billion annually for Americans, or an average of $2,000 in wasted food,...

TRENTON, N.J.—Taco Bell is expanding its recycling program with international recycling leader TerraCycle to now collect all brands and types of sauce packets. This means that all condiment or sauce packets, whether Taco Bell or otherwise, can be collected, mailed back with a prepaid shipping label, and given a spicier second life. As an added incentive, for every shipment of waste sent to TerraCycle through this program, collectors earn TerraCycle points that can be donated to a nonprofit, school, or charitable organization of their choice. “Earlier this spring, we tested the idea with consumers to responsibly recycle any brand of...

HELSINKE, FINLAND—Scandic Helsinki Hub recently opened its doors in the Finnish capital. Located in downtown Helsinki, the hotel is housed in a 1920s printing house that has been transformed into a large 352-room hotel. Along with unique loft-style rooms, the hotel features inspiring event, meeting and coworking spaces along with a trattoria and bars. Scandic Helsinki Hub is strategically located at the crossroads of downtown Helsinki and the charming Helsinki south district. Vestiges of the former printing house have been elegantly preserved in the design throughout the building, and guests can choose accommodations that offer a variety of special features...

What are the 6 Food Waste Prevention Myths? Leanpath, a food waste prevention specialist, recently released a document explaining the myths. If you have an F&B operation at your property, or even if you don’t, I highly recommend reading the document. First, the six myths, according to Leanpath: 1. My team doesn’t have time to track and prevent food waste. 2. Food waste prevention technology is too expensive. 3. Food waste is a result of poor performance. 4. My kitchen controls its food waste: we donate and compost. 5. You fix food waste once and you’re done. 6. It’s not the time. I have too...

ORLANDO, FLA.—Green Lodging News has added Clean the World as a Founding Sponsor. Clean the World provides innovative impact solutions that inspire businesses and individuals to impact their community and help change the world. Through our Hospitality Recycling program, we recycle the used soap and plastic amenity bottles left behind by guests and collected by housekeepers around the world and put it into the hands of people in need. The Impact Reporting that is provided as part of the program provides partners advanced insights on their sustainability contributions. At any given moment, partners can review, track, and observe the impact they’re...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The JW Marriott Washington, DC announced, during Environmental Awareness Month, that the hotel has been awarded a Gold level LEED certification for Building Operations and Maintenance. LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) is developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and is the most widely used green building rating system in the world and an international symbol of excellence in green building. The JW Marriott Washington, DC is also expected to receive the Energy Star award in late September. The LEED Certification achievement, along with JW Marriott Washington, DC’s energy conservation awards, achievements, and efforts, such as using solar energy,...

PALMA DE MALLORCA, SPAIN—On the United Nations International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, the Iberostar Group announced its ambitious plan to install artificial intelligence in its more than 100 hotels globally to become zero waste, reduce food waste and save more than 1,600 tons of food in the first year. This commitment by the company will become a reality thanks to an innovative system, based on technology from the Winnow company, which will contribute to ending food waste and bringing the company closer to its goal of being free of waste sent to landfill by 2025. The Iberostar Group committed itself to this zero-waste objective in 2020 with...

LONDON—Pasta straw company Stroodles has extended its product range into a fully edible tableware range. This new range includes biscuit spoons, wheat bran plates and bowls, and wafer cups. All the company’s new products are 100 percent biodegradable, vegan, zero waste and even edible, and most importantly, don’t compromise your drinking or dining experience. Since the launch of their pasta drinking straws in 2019, which have since become a global and viral trend, Chief Stroodle and founder Maxim Gelmann, says that the company is now ready to grow their movement and own the eco-tableware category. The company’s aim is to...