NATIONAL REPORT—Green Key Global, one of the leading sustainable certification programs for hotels in North America, has announced a strengthened collaboration with BetterTable, a pioneer in hotel food and beverage sustainability. This collaboration is designed to help hotels significantly reduce food waste and carbon emissions while boosting profitability. In the hospitality industry, food waste represents 7 percent of total food revenues, with a staggering 66 percent deemed avoidable. Food related operations also contribute approximately, 20 percent of a hotel’s carbon footprint. The collaboration marks a major milestone as BetterTable.ca transitions to BetterTable (now available at BetterTable.com) broadening its reach across North America....

INTERNATIONAL REPORT—The recently unveiled white paper “Decarbonizing Hotel Food Systems” provides a roadmap for the global hospitality industry to cut food-related emissions by 30 percent by 2030, potentially reducing up to 70 million tons of CO2 annually. The paper was produced by the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, Iberostar Hotels & Resorts, the Sustainable Markets Initiative, and Systemiq. It underscores that hotels, representing 1 percent of all food production emissions and generating 3 percent of global food waste, can significantly influence the global food system by optimizing energy use and leveraging their procurement power. The white paper presents innovative solutions, such...

SAN FRANCISCO—Grove Collaborative Holdings, Inc., a leading sustainable consumer products company, Certified B Corporation, and Public Benefit Corporation announced the launch of a new partnership pilot with hotel management company Crescent Hotels & Resorts. The two brands are working together to develop a Beyond Plastic Stay at a number of properties across the U.S., meeting the needs of eco-conscious travelers who are looking to reduce the environmental impact of their business and personal travel. The average American is increasingly aware of the environmental impact of their actions and the general state of pollution, especially as it relates to plastic: 85 percent of...

EAST LONGMEADOW, MASS.—The pandemic changed the world forever. While wearing masks and social distancing are now optional, one critical habit remains: proper handwashing, which includes thorough drying. People are washing their hands at an unprecedented rate, and that puts the restroom experience under more intense scrutiny than ever before. “Washing your hands has always been important, as shown by the CDC mantra, ‘Clean hands save lives,’” said William Gagnon, COO, Excel Dryer. “The pandemic reminded the world of the importance of proper hand hygiene. There is also a keen focus on restrooms and how a person’s experience in them can...

PENSACOLA, FLA.—Oyster Bay Boutique Hotel is proud to announce an eco-friendly new offering for its guests: 100 percent sustainable, reusable aluminum custom-branded cans of spring water, produced by local company Custom Water Workz. This progressive initiative not only elevates the guest experience but also significantly curtails the reliance on single-serve plastic bottles, reinforcing the hotel’s commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship. Mallory Studer, Owner of Oyster Bay, collaborated with Daniel Rogers, Client Services Director at Custom Water Workz, to craft a unique label design that highlights the hotel’s brand while promoting eco-friendly practices. “We are excited to offer our guests...

HOLLYWOOD, FLA.—Hard Rock International and Seminole Gaming announce their partnership with Ocean Conservancy, a leading nonprofit dedicated to protecting our ocean from today’s greatest global challenges. Together, they will advance sustainability actions across Hard Rock and Seminole Gaming properties, and the communities and tourist destinations they serve. The Global Sound Waves sustainability partnership with Ocean Conservancy builds upon the ongoing work of Save The Planet sustainability teams at local Hard Rock and Seminole Gaming properties. By focusing on the upstream management of water and food waste, as well as material waste, the campaign helps to promote waste audits that identify alternatives and...

A leading national nonprofit, Keep America Beautiful inspires and educates people to act every day to improve and beautify their community environment. Keep America Beautiful envisions a country in which every community is a clean, green, and beautiful place to live. Established in 1953, Keep America Beautiful provides the expertise, programs and resources to help people End Littering, Improve Recycling, Beautify America’s public spaces, and Restore & Support resilient communities. The organization is driven by the work and passion of millions of individual volunteers, nearly 700 community-based Keep America Beautiful affiliates, and the support of municipalities, elected officials, and corporate partners. Hilton Sponsors Greatest American Cleanup Hilton recently announced sponsorship of Keep...

NATIONAL REPORT—Given the immense climatic challenges we currently face and the growing consumer demand for more sustainable products and services, businesses in every sector are starting to take their environmental impact seriously. In hospitality, the situation is no different. Energy consumption in the industry is high, with cooling, lighting, heating, and ventilation responsible for up to 60 percent of a hotel’s CO2 emissions. Energy-intensive extras such as heated swimming pools, excessive water and plastic use, and food waste also contribute to the industry’s environmental impacts. Given these unavoidable energy requirements and resource needs, hotels must be smart about increasing energy efficiency and reducing their...

INTERNATIONAL REPORT—“Net-zero hotels” are something no one had heard of ten years ago, but now an increasing number are redirecting their efforts to reduce their carbon footprint and achieve this gold standard in hospitality sustainability. While this is an encouraging step—you might call it a breath of fresh air—the wider environmental challenges facing the hotel sector remain stark. According to the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance’s Global Hotel Decarbonisation Report, the sector must reduce its emissions by two-thirds by 2030 and 90 percent per room by 2050 if it’s to contribute to the goals set out in the Paris Climate Agreement. These ambitious...

LOS ANGELES—evolvetogether, the luxury, clean personal care brand that blends beautiful design, high-performing formulas, and fine fragrances into thoughtfully made products, announced a collaboration with goop, the wellness brand founded by Gwyneth Paltrow, who is also an advisor to and equity holder in evolvetogether. The collaboration features a first-of-its-kind exfoliating bar soap that meets goop’s clean-certified standards and comes wrapped in paper made out of materials like wood pulp that disappears under running water in seconds, leaving no trace. This partnership began with a call to action to address the overuse and waste of hotel amenities, particularly soap, the most used and highest-waste...