NATIONAL REPORT—For hotel and lodge owners, plumbing and waste management are always a concern. Hotels alone produce 289,700 tons of waste each year, 79,000 of which is food waste. That's not only detrimental to the environment, but it’s incredibly costly as well. That is why it's highly beneficial for lodge and hotel owners to preserve as much as possible. Luckily, there are many ways that lodges and hotels can reduce waste and water usage. Read on to learn some about the top tips for waste reduction and sustainable plumbing. Limiting Food Waste Food waste is costly and damaging to the environment. In...

RIYADH—The Red Sea Development Co. (TRSDC), the developer behind the world’s most ambitious regenerative tourism project, has signed two Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) with Blue Planet Ecosystems (BPE). Signed by John Pagano, CEO of TRSDC and Paul Schmitzberger, CEO of BPE, the first MoU sees the entities pledging to investigate the implementation of a viable solution for Sustainable High Tech, CO2 Negative Fish Production. The Blue Planet Ecosystems’ solution proposed will provide sustainable production of seafood and algae production in a desert environment. “In response to growing consumer demand for sustainable protein and to further contribute to the long-term protection and enhancement of...

ORLANDO, FLA.—Clean the World Foundation, a leader in global health dedicated to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and global sustainability, in partnership with Las Vegas Sands, has selected the University of Saint Joseph Macao (USJ), Institute of Science and Environment as a 2021 recipient for the Drop By Drop Project. The Drop by Drop Project, a collaboration between Clean the World Foundation and Sands, reinvests capital from Sands’ water stewardship savings into innovative projects supporting water champions in its local regions. The University of Saint Joseph Macao, a returning Drop by Drop Project recipient, will continue its investigation into enhancing local water quality using...

AUSTIN, TEXAS—Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) and the Global Finance Committee (GFC) are preparing for the Fall 2022 release of the 12th Revised edition of the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI). Prior to publishing the newest edition, HFTP and the GFC have recruited a group of leading industry stakeholders to participate in the review of exposure drafts, requesting comments for consideration ahead of the 12th edition publication. The first exposure draft is for a new section titled: “Energy, Water, and Waste.” “This is the first of many steps as environmental, social and governance objectives and measures will continue to change with the...

PLAINFIELD, ILL.—Was your hotel built before 1993? If so, chances are you’re losing money each time a guest flushes one of the hotel’s toilets. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that hotels use about 15 percent of the total water consumed by commercial and institutional facilities in the United States. Actual usage varies by guest, of course, but most studies indicate hotels use between 100 to 200 gallons of fresh water per occupied guestroom per day. Water in the United States ranges from three to five dollars per 1,000 gallons. Simple math shows how efforts to reduce water use can potentially lower hotel operating...

PARIS—HRS, the leading global corporate lodging platform, announced the addition of Accor properties, a world leading hospitality group, in HRS’ new Green Stay Initiative. This decision provides analytical and time-saving benefits to corporate hotel procurement executives as they increasingly require sustainability data as they consider which properties to include on their list of preferred hotels for 2022 and beyond. “The world’s leading multi-national companies are promoting their aspirations to achieve net-zero operations by 2030 or sooner. These company-wide goals impact managed travel programs, who are tasked to travel more sustainably as they recover from the pandemic,” said HRS CEO Tobias Ragge. “Dozens of...

From Walgreens to Target to the doctor’s office…It is safe to say that hemp has made a comeback here in the United States. What most people don’t know is that hemp is far more than your run of a mill CBD concoction. It’s food, fiber, fuel and more. For us here at Anact, we believe that hemp is the future of sustainable textiles due to its performance and sustainable attributes. Here’s why we are excited for the hospitality industry to pave the way in re-introducing this powerful textile. It’s hard to find a negative when it comes to hemp and...

KOHLER, WIS.—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently honored Kohler Co. with a 2021 WaterSense Sustained Excellence Award—the seventh such award for the company—for its efforts in 2020 to help consumers and businesses conserve water. Kohler was recognized during the WaterSmart Innovations Conference and Exposition in Las Vegas, along with 33 other utilities, manufacturers, builders, retailers, and other organizations that partner with WaterSense to promote water-efficient products, homes, and programs. This recognition marks the twelfth award Kohler Co. has received from the WaterSense program. Kohler’s various plumbing brands launched nearly 100 WaterSense-labeled products in 2020. From 2007 to 2020, 388...

In 2018, Media Matters, a watchdog group, reported that over a two-week period from late June (2018) to July (2018), ABC, CBS, and NBC, the three major networks in the U.S., aired a combined 127 segments that discussed the heat wave then impacting much of the country. However, only one, CBS This Morning, mentioned two words that appear to get some people very charged up, and those two words are “climate change.” There’s more to it than just the fact that some people get “charged up” when the words climate change are spoken on the air. According to Chris Hayes,...

The world’s environment is affected primarily by real estate, transportation, and manufacturing. Due to the influence that these industries have on each other, it is clear that designing and operating sustainable buildings have a tremendous impact on the environment. Some of the concerns addressed by sustainability practices include inefficient site planning; lack of smart growth; waste of water, electricity, and energy; overconsumption and excessive waste; not using sustainable materials; minimizing transportation; the lack of healthy indoor air quality; increased pollution; depletion of the ozone layer; and climate change. Challenges & Misconceptions The hospitality industry was slow to adopt sustainable operations and design because...