LAS VEGAS—This week, MGM Resorts International released its Annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report, a comprehensive publication that details the company’s corporate citizenship efforts across the 12 month span of 2016. The annual report, titled “MGM Cares”—the company’s CSR brand—is available now for download at the company’s website. The report describes MGM Resorts’ CSR philosophy, governance and culture, and summarizes MGM Resorts’ developments in the pillars of Diversity and Inclusion, Philanthropy and Community Engagement and Environmental Sustainability. Last year’s CSR efforts were a continuation and expansion of a commitment the company made officially in 2000, when MGM Resorts pioneered the...

Hersha Hospitality Trust recently made its 2016 Sustainability Report (its third annual) available to the public. Results in the report relate back to 2010 when Hersha launched its EarthView program. According to Hersha, it has accumulated $6.8 million in energy savings since launching Earthview. Energy consumption per occupied room has been reduced by 19 percent. Some of those savings, according to Hersha Hospitality Trust CEO Jay H. Shah, are due to the implementation of guestroom energy management systems. Ninety-seven percent of Hersha hotels have been retrofitted with LED lighting. In 2016, approximately 10 percent of Hersha’s hotels had electric...

ST. JOSEPH, MICH.—Whirlpool Commercial Laundry—a family of brands including Maytag Commercial Laundry, ADC and Whirlpool Commercial Laundry—is showcasing its machines to its global customers at this year’s Clean Show in Las Vegas, June 5 to 8 (booth #2615). “We keep our finger on the pulse of the industry through continuous market analysis, which allows us to position our products and innovations to meet existing and anticipated customer needs,” said Trey Northrup, General Manager of Whirlpool Corp. Commercial Laundry. “By strengthening our resources, including expanding our product portfolio, creating a centralized call center, investing in manufacturing facilities and adding new talent,...

Project Planet Save the Planet One Laundry Load at a Time SAVE up to tens of thousands of dollars per year while demonstrating your environmental commitment to guests! Project Planet’s variety of creative & colorful pillow cards, hangers and conservation items promote towel and linen reuse. Promotional materials available in a variety of nature and regional designs. Let Project Planet show you how to reduce water, energy, labor and chemical costs. Project Planet » Email for Details »

SAN DIEGO—San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer joined the staff of the San Diego Convention Center at a public celebration last month to publicly celebrate the venue’s certification as a LEED Gold facility. Mayor Faulconer praised the venue’s efforts in achieving the standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the foremost program for buildings, homes and communities that are designed, constructed, maintained and operated for improved environmental and human health performance. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. LEED-certified buildings are resource efficient. They use less water and energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “San Diego is one...

Pellerin Milnor Corporation Equipment Ranging in Size and Purpose Pellerin Milnor Corp. is a leading commercial laundry equipment manufacturer that specializes in reducing water and energy consumption in the washroom. Featuring washer-extractors from 25-700 lb capacity, automated tunnel washing systems for processing 7,000 lb per hour or more, dryers, material handling systems, and laundry computer networks, Milnor machines have a proud legacy of durability and efficiency. For more information, please call (504) 467-9591, e-mail milnorinfo@milnor.com, or visit www.milnor.com. Pellerin Milnor Corporation » Email for Details »

NATIONAL REPORT—Standing out as a small business is all about setting yourself apart, highlighting the things that make you better than competitors. A great way to do that today is to be ecologically responsible. One of the best things about taking an eco-friendly approach to operating your hotel is that it can become a marketing tool for you. Travelers today, like consumers of all kinds, have expectations beyond simply the products and services they consume. They have particular issues that they care about, and they want to support companies that feel the same way. The environment is a major one. While...

How is your hotel’s laundry running? I love asking this question. There’s no grey area on the answer. It’s either “not so great,” which means something is leaking and the technician has been here a scary long time. Or, “pretty good,” which means nothing is leaking. My response for the latter is “how do you know?” As anybody in the lodging industry knows, being green isn’t a plug-and-play endeavor. It is a constant evolution. Why then is the laundry different? Why is it we buy a high G-force washer-extractor and a moisture-sensing tumble dryer and call our laundry “greened up?” One...

STAFFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND—Corporate Vision Magazine has awarded Ozone Water Technologies “Best Sustainable Laundries Company 2017” & “Most Green Energy Reduction Product: LaundrOzone” as part of its 2017 Technology Innovator Awards. Now celebrating its third year, the Technology Innovator Awards return in 2017 to showcase talented individuals, teams and firms. Ozone Water Technologies was born from many years of laundry operations experience by its founder, Jim Gross, who managed his family laundry for 17 years, operated all Marriott laundries for three years, and operated his own laundry consulting business for many years. As a consultant, he reviewed ozone washing possibilities and decided...

LAS VEGAS—HD Expo 2017 wrapped up in Las Vegas on May 5 after attracting more than 800 exhibitors and more than 10,000 attendees. The reconfigured show floor allowed for 275,000 square feet of show floor space. The annual event was an opportunity for suppliers to display their latest innovations and that they did. Many of the new products and technologies on hand have a green story behind them—whether having to do with the material they are made of or the energy or water they conserve. It would be impossible in this space to include all of the green news...