STONE MOUNTAIN, GA.—Eco-minded boba tea enthusiasts nationwide are now able to enjoy their favorite beverage without using a straw that harms the environment. WinCup, Inc., the manufacturer of phade, the world’s first marine biodegradable, home and industrial compostable Caribbean blue drinking straw, has released a new bubble tea-sized straw for boba, smoothie and milkshake drinkers. The boba straw’s wider size is more suitable for thicker liquids while incorporating phade’s superior sustainable technology. Made with PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate), a meaningful new biopolymer derived from the fermentation of canola oil, phade straws maintain the feel and user experience of traditional plastic straws but will safely...

SHARM EL-SHEIKH—Bluewater, a Swedish innovator of award-winning hydration solutions and beverages, has lashed out at the lack of decisive action by world lawmakers to halt the production of single-use plastic bottles despite growing evidence of the threat posed to planetary and human health. “Some 1.3 billion plastic bottles are purchased around the world every day and unfortunately many ultimately end up in landfill or the oceans after being discarded, subsequently then leaching a variety of potentially health threatening chemicals and microplastics into the environment,” said Philip Russell, Managing Director of Bluewater’s U.K.-based events company, in a landmark speech in the...

NEW YORK—HX: The Hotel Experience and Boutique Design New York (BDNY), two adjoining trade shows held at the Javits Center November 13 to 14, wrapped up this week with numerous first-time suppliers introducing green products and services. In addition, veterans of the two shows were back to tout the green upsides to their products and services to the thousands of attendees. It would be impossible to list all the suppliers deserving of publicity, but the following are many of them, along with a brief description of what they featured at the shows. Sapphire Beverages introduced its water in easy-to-recycle aluminum...

MIAMI—Vindow Inc., the cloud-based travel technology platform that brings buyers and sellers of contracted accommodations together to facilitate a more effective RFP and contracting process, is now a member of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), working with the organization to make travel more sustainable. Vindow is the only cloud-based, SaaS platform that combines a centralized, full lifecycle management of the procurement process—from RFP generation through contract management—with AI-powered, intelligent market analytics. In addition to the valuable business benefits the platform offers, it also gives buyers and sellers an easy way to decrease their carbon footprint. Vindow’s online RFP management and contracting functionality facilitates...

BROOMFIELD, COLO.—As the 2022/23 ski and ride season gets underway in the northern hemisphere, and with climate change in sharp focus, Vail Resorts released its fifth annual Progress Report outlining the progress the company has made towards reaching a zero net operating footprint by 2030. Vail Resorts is ahead of schedule to meet its emissions goals and is on track to reach zero waste to landfill and zero net operating impact on forests and habitat to achieve a zero net operating footprint by 2030. The report details how the company actively works to mitigate climate change and preserve the environment, promotes the...

NEW ORLEANS—The New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center (NOENMCC) has achieved its first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification, a major milestone in its ongoing commitment to sustainability. A building rating system that provides a framework for healthy, highly efficient, green buildings, LEED certification is a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement and leadership. This official certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) makes the NOENMCC the largest LEED-certified project in Louisiana, the largest convention center project in the U.S. certified under LEED v4.1 Operations and Maintenance and the first convention center in the world to be awarded initial certification...

BETHESDA, MD.—Pebblebrook Hotel Trust announced that it published its fourth annual Environmental Sustainability and Social Responsibility Report covering the company’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance in 2021 and its commitment to environmentally sustainable business practices and social responsibility to its employees and other stakeholders. Pebblebrook’s 2022 ESG Report is aligned with international reporting standards such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), includes disclosures from the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), and reflects the company’s commitment to understanding and planning for sustainability risks through the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD). The 2022 ESG Report also sets forth the...

One of the most interesting trends to watch from my seat as an editor has been the evolution of the “green” amenity. I have learned that it is quite a complex issue and a very competitive space for suppliers. If one were to describe the evolution of the greening of the amenity, it would begin with the dispenser and its numerous variations, include the elimination of certain chemicals within the products themselves, involve the shape of the soap bar itself (I loved the version with the hole in the middle), the introduction of alternative plastic and paper containers (including...

NATIONAL REPORT—Eliminating single-use amenity waste is one of the hospitality industry’s biggest waste challenges. Amenity dispensers certainly do a good job reducing that waste although some dispensers come with cartridges that need to be recycled. At least two companies have developed dissolvable amenities—each requiring the addition of water by the guest. The first company, Hotel Emporium, offers compostable EcoPods that include powder in containers made from 60 percent bamboo fiber, 30 percent sugarcane fiber, and 10 percent wood fiber. The second company, Nohbo, encapsulates amenities in water-soluble film. The film biodegrades instantly when met with water—an on-site zero-waste solution. No...

INTERNATIONAL REPORT—The Sustainable Hospitality Alliance has updated its Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative (HCMI) and is calling on the hospitality industry, including corporate clients and booking platforms, to use common measurement metrics to ensure a transparent and globally comparable approach to carbon, water and waste reporting. To remain up to date amidst a changing landscape of climate action, HCMI has been reviewed and improved based on user feedback and research by Cornell University’s Center for Hospitality Research. This version has been updated to align with the latest GHG Protocol guidance and to better incorporate renewable energy with the support of Greenview. Publicly available carbon emissions factors have...