NEW YORK—Ireland founded Easydry has achieved a global first as the first disposable towel company to receive B-Corp certification. Certification required testing Easydry on their social and environmental performance and the company’s ability to show full transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials. Easydry’s global expansion and their U.S. operations in New York are supported by Enterprise Ireland, the Irish trade and innovation agency. CEO and founder Anne Butterly says: “I am so proud that Easydry has become a certified B Corp. I launched Easydry almost 20 years ago with sustainability...

KHANH HOA PROVINCE, VIETNAM—Vu Ngoc Linh, a hospitality professional with over a decade of experience in food and beverage departments, has left the career ladder of the typical restaurant professional to pursue a whole new kind of fulfillment. Earlier this spring, the 580-room Alma Resort on Vietnam’s south-central coast appointed Linh as its first Sustainability Officer. It will be Linh’s job to track the property’s energy consumption, resource conservation, recycling, pollution reduction, waste disposal, transportation, education efforts, and building design. The role also involves creating sustainability programs, budgets, and schedules, evaluating the success of sustainability initiatives, and managing three staff committees...

NEW YORK—Healixa, Inc., a technology company focusing on building and acquiring innovative and disruptive technologies in the health-tech, clean water, and green-tech industries, announced the completion of the national application filing phase, in accordance with the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), for patent coverage in 132 countries for the company’s Global AquaDuct Atmospheric Water Harvesting (AWH) product. “As our team prepares for the upcoming commercial launch of our Global AquaDuct water harvesting device, we are ensuring we have robust patent protections in place, and with the final phase of the PCT process now complete, we are one step closer to securing...

IRVINE, CALIF.—Sensor faucets may be smart, but they are not smart enough. So says Irvine, Calif.-based entrepreneur Joanna Boey. She is the VP Sales/Marketing for SmartFaucets, a company that focuses on improving the guest experience while reducing water consumption and related costs at the same time. You may have experienced malfunctioning sensor faucets—waving your hands with no response below the faucet. “Half the time the touchless faucet fails—the battery fails,” Boey says. The electronic eye can also get dirty, further increasing the chance of malfunction. The valve may also malfunction two or three times a year. Ultimately, the sensor faucet...

MERIDA, MEXICO—Earth Day is every day at WAYAM Mundo Imperial, where every inch of the hotel is carefully designed to offer guests the perfect balance of wellness and tranquility. As the first LEED-certified property in historic Mérida, WAYAM welcomes guests to coexist with nature and celebrate the lush landscape of its historic backdrop. From aromatherapy in common areas to a water tasting menu offering guests select local waters to sample, the amenities at WAYAM complement the hotel’s strategic location and green facilities. In addition to solar paneling, all the windows at WAYAM face east, generating a high solar reflectivity and therefore...

Utilizing breakthroughs in design and technology, hotel owners and designers around the world are establishing new benchmarks for what it means to be a “dark” green hotel—one that has gone far beyond investing in easy low-hanging fruit. As published previously on Green Lodging News, Hotel Marcel New Haven, Tapestry Collection by Hilton just opened within the last two weeks in Connecticut. It is believed to be the first net-zero hotel in the United States. It will utilize renewable solar power sources on site to generate the electricity needed for its common areas, restaurant, laundry, meeting rooms and 165 guestrooms and...

PARSIPPANY, N.J.—Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, the world’s largest hotel franchising company with over 8,900 hotels across over 95 countries, released its 2022 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report highlighting its dedication to operating in a socially, ethically, and environmentally responsible way. These commitments are underscored by recent accolades, including recognition by DiversityInc, which highlighted Wyndham as a company with leading diversity practices for 2022, and Forbes as one of The Best Employers for Diversity 2022. “The significance of our company’s vision—to be the world’s leading hotel company by delivering the best value to owners and guests—is more important than ever....

BANGKOK—With booming demand for adventurous and eco-conscious travel, northern Norway is one of the last frontiers for a self-sustainable, off-grid destination. The 94-room Six Senses Svart combines a futuristic design and technological innovation with earthy, organic materials that use the least embedded energy. The name Svart, which means black and blue in old Norse, is a reference to the natural heritage of the ancient Svartisen glacier, which lies just within the Arctic Circle, where summer days last forever and winter nights are lit by the breathtaking Northern Lights. To minimize the on-site impact, Six Senses Svart is poised on...

TROY, OHIO—Hobart announced that it is upgrading its LXe Undercounter Commercial Dishwasher with a new Two-Level Racking System. The optional two-level racking kit will allow the dish machine to wash two racks of dishes in a single load and boosts the total machine capacity to 48 racks per hour. “This second level rack boosts the capacity of the machine by doubling the amount of ware that can be washed in a single cycle,” said Hobart Warewash Marketing Manager Jerry Socha. “Restaurants today are struggling with labor issues and need to do whatever they can to free up staff to focus...

LOMBOK, INDONESIA—Invest Islands, the leading Asian real estate investment company, has unveiled Gran Meliá Lombok, a new beachfront and hillside resort. Conceived by Invest Islands’ project team in conjunction with Bali-based Inspiral Architecture & Design Studios, and managed by Meliá Hotels International, one of the leading companies in resort hotels worldwide, Gran Meliá Lombok is a masterpiece of high-style, low-impact design that weaves seamlessly into its tropical surroundings. It is located at Torok Bay, a sheltered crescent-shaped stretch of sand on Lombok’s secluded south coast, overlooking the Indian Ocean and framed by emerald headlands and rippling rice fields. Guests and...