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“Green” Hotels Association
GREENING NEWSLETTER
ALLY MEMBER SUCCESS STORIES
As our green programs continue to be refined, we’re reminded
more and more that none of us can be really green without
the green products and services offered by green vendors.
GHA continues to encourage and support our Ally Members,
and to bring you news of their successes—new products, new
ideas, new techniques, recent awards, new contracts, etc. So,
each July/August issue of this newsletter focuses on new and
refreshing stories about our Ally Members’ successes. Here
we go once again . . .
* * * * *
RD FRESH, Ecovisionary
ALLY MEMBER RD FRESH is an ECOVISIONARY awardwinning 100% natural, 100% green, 100% passive, zero
footprint product―a refrigeration dehumidifier―that keeps
food fresher longer
and saves energy
while doing so. As a
company, RD FRESH
continues to move
forward, not only
expanding nationally with very successful distributorships in
Texas, Virginia, Washington and more, but also expanding
to Vancouver, Canada; Puerto Rico and even Norway―the
greenest country in the world!
“We’ve also expanded into the retail market with VegieFresh
which is doing equally well, already in 300 small
chain supermarkets and health food stores and
having just signed up our first major chain, Sprouts.”
“Most importantly for “Green” Hotels Association® members,
we are also now at the point where we can handle direct ship
accounts for those hotels in places where we do not yet have
distributorship representation. Please contact me directly at
954/732-8025. As the developer of the product, founder of
the company, and a 6-year member of GHA, I’ll be happy to
take care of you and your hotel personally including special
discounts for all “Green” Hotels Association® members,”
explains owner Steve Gerson. To learn more, visit rdfresh.
com.
An establishment that has recently demonstrated such fiscal
and environmental leadership through the use of furniture
renovation solutions, such as refinishing, remanufacturing and
re-upholstering is Best Western Plus at King of Prussia, PA, a
168-room property owned and operated by RWK Enterprises,
Inc. After receiving guest feedback around the need for larger
screen LCD televisions, the property managers
were left with the difficult decision to either buy
new furniture or repurpose existing, high quality
television armoires.
Choosing the more sustainable and cost-effective
option, the King of Prussia hotel invested in The
Refinishing Touch’s furniture asset management
Before
solutions to restore headboards, nightstands,
side chairs, benches, desks, micro-fridge cabinets and
armoires in 100 rooms throughout the establishment.
7-YEAR ALLY MEMBER THE REFINISHING
TOUCH’s production crew remanufactured
the television armoires by eliminating a
top portion of the furniture piece, applying
a granite surface and staining the asset
with a more contemporary, darker finish.
Refinishing and laminate replacements were
also completed on 143 nightstands, while
After
100 benches received a color change and were reupholstered using the company’s durable fabrics from
its Touch Textiles division. The expert team then refinished
headboards, desks, micro-fridge cabinets and side chair legs
using the company’s innovative non-toxic, low VOC lacquers.
The work was completed in just 30 days, and The Refinishing
Touch’s same day room turnover allowed the property to stay
open for business throughout the entire renovation project.
As a result of choosing furniture asset management, and
avoiding the need to buy new pieces, the Best Western Plus
King of Prussia reduced its total expenditure by an estimated
75.8%. In addition to the cost savings, the property also
prevented landfill waste and deforestation, while minimizing
carbon emissions from 125.32 tons to a mere 1.24.
To read more about these renovations, see a before-and-after
video or for more information on The Refinishing Touch’s
furniture asset management, visit therefinishingtouch.com.
COFFEE FOR A CAUSE
ONE OF THE REFINISHING TOUCH’S
SUCCESSES
Wyndham Resorts and the Arbor Day Foundation
Preserve the World’s Rainforests, One Cup at a Time
As the hotel industry becomes more environmentallyconscious, hotel owners and managers must consider
sustainability while balancing budget pressures and required
brand standards during renovations. This juggling act is forcing
many to rethink the renovation process entirely, and instead,
invest in emerging, best-practice solutions like furniture asset
management.
Approximately two years ago, Wyndham Vacation Ownership
properties made the switch to serving Arbor Day Specialty
Coffee―a certified shade-grown coffee―in their 185+ resorts
around the world, thanks to a partnership with ALLY MEMBER
ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION, a non-profit focused on planting
trees. In doing so, Wyndham has done more than provide
great-tasting coffee to their 900,000 owner families. They’ve
July / August 2013
“Green” Hotels Association®
Greening Newsletter
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Internet: greenhotels.com, e-mail: [email protected]
provided fair wages, access to healthcare and better housing
and education options for Peruvian farmers while preserving
vital tropical rainforests and the ecosystems they support. By
selecting and exclusively serving this eco-conscious coffee,
Wyndham’s commitment to the environment is evidenced in
the numbers: more than 25 million square
feet of rain forest has been preserved each
year since 2011 through their participation
in this coffee program.
Arbor Day Specialty Coffee has
certifications through Fair Trade, Rain
Forest Alliance and Smithsonian Bird
Institute and is made from certified shadegrown coffee beans that thrive underneath
the rain forest canopy. Unlike typical
coffee, shade-grown beans thrive in
harmony with the rest of the rain forest,
thus saving an entire eco-system including plant life, trees,
birds, insects and mammals. Shade-grown coffee beans
produce a richer, more flavorful coffee and prevent the
clear-cutting of rain forests that usually accompanies massproduced, sun-grown coffee. For more information about
Arbor Day Specialty Coffee and how your hotel can participate,
call Ryan at 402/473-2105 or visit arborday.org/coffee
TODAY!
Success for Impact Enterprises, Inc.!
Sixteenfifty Creative Intelligence teamed with ALLY MEMBER
IMPACT ENTERPRISES, INC. to provide environmentally
responsible, unique and quality presentation products to
the recently renovated and magnificent Rancho Valencia
Resort & Spa in Rancho Santa Fe, CA (ranchovalencia.com).
Sixteenfifty.com, a nationally recognized creative development
team for the casino and hospitality industries, was chosen by
the Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa to develop environmentally
responsible presentation products and print for all areas of the
resort.
Impactenterprises.com, an internationally recognized design
and manufacturing company specializing in eco-friendly
custom presentation products, information and product
packaging, custom signage, and other custom products,
was chosen by Sixteenfifty to manufacture and offer design
suggestions based on materials chosen and Impact’s unique
manufacturing capabilities.
Together, Sixteenfifty and Impact developed a collection
of environmentally responsible presentation products that
are branding quality and distinctive. Most items are solid
woods from Verified Sustainable Forests. Other products
are manufactured
with fabrics that
are durable and
aqueous coated.
Items include:
Guest Services
Directories, Tabletop Displays, InRoom Products,
Menu Covers,
Wine List Covers,
Check Presenters
and Stationary
Holders. For more information, please contact Ralph
Salisbury, [email protected] or green@
impactenterprises.com.
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WHY EO SUCCEEDS!
ALLY MEMBER EO has been a pioneer of green/natural
products since its inception 18 years ago. Co-Owners Brad
Black and Susan Griffin-Black founded the company on
using only pure essential/organic oils (NO synthetic fragrance
ever), and natural ingredients for their products that are both
body and earth friendly. Manufacturing has always been an
important element at EO (which stands for
essential oils) because we can control not
only the quality of what goes into the product
but also how to manufacture with minimal
impact to the environment. 2013 has been
an exciting year for EO as we have opened
our first retail location in downtown Mill
Valley, CA, and have moved to our new
facility in San Rafael, CA. This new facility
has allowed us to further our commitment to
the environment with our new water recycling system, which is
saving up to 250,000 gallons of water per month, and we have
increased our cooling and heating efficiency by 50%!
EO’s values and practices are all documented: Bay Area
Green Certified, 8-year “Green” Hotels Association® Approved
Vendor, Certified B Corporation. Many of our products are
also Certified Organic, non-GMO. Certified and Gluten
Free! You can find us in all Whole Foods and other natural
food stores across the US. Our amenity program currently
serves 300 amenity properties nationwide! Learn more at
eoproducts.com TODAY!
Cascades Tissue Group Launches
100% Recycled Bathroom Tissue
North America’s fourth largest producer of towel and
tissue paper, 5-year ALLY MEMBER CASCADES TISSUE
GROUP, announced the launch of Cascades® Moka™
100% recycled, unbleached bathroom tissue, a first-ofits-kind product available to the
away-from-home market. Beige
in appearance, Cascades’ Moka™
offers commercial purchasers
the highest hygienic qualities
and softness while significantly
reducing the environmental impact
associated with manufacturing a
very common, single-use product.
In addition to eliminating chemical
whitening, Cascades’ value-added
tissue product is made of a pulp mix
composed of 100% recycled fiber,
80% of which is post-consumer
material and 20% is derived from
recovered corrugated boxes. The product is also offset with
100% Green-e® certified renewable wind electricity; saving
2,500 pounds of CO2 emissions for each ton produced.
A detailed life cycle analysis of Moka™ undertaken by the
company revealed a reduction in overall environmental
impact by at least 25% when compared to Cascades’ 100%
recycled fiber bathroom tissue, which has been regarded as
a sustainable tissue exemplar in recent years, but includes a
chlorine-free whitening process for aesthetics.
“Beige is the new green, at least as it relates to towel
and tissue,” said Cascades Tissue Group CEO Suzanne
Blanchet, who personally conceived and championed Moka™
bath tissue’s development. “The last several years have
“Green” Hotels Association® Greening Newsletter
July / August 2013
Internet: greenhotels.com, e-mail: [email protected]
brought about countless habit changes meant to preserve
the environment. The quality of this bath tissue hasn’t been
sacrificed one bit, so adjusting to a new color seems like a
small step to take for even greater sustainability.”
Cascades started offering its Moka™ concept with the
introduction of its Moka™ napkin line in the late ‘90s.
Commercial sales for the product have steadily increased,
as corporate purchasers have become more aware of its
environmental benefits. In 2004, the Moka™ napkin line
represented 10% of its total away-from-home sales in North
America, whereas it now comprises over 23% of case
sales. The company believes that the commercial market
will continue to serve as the first frontier for sustainable
innovations, as people evolve their tastes and habits out in
public before modifying behaviors at home.
While the recycled bath tissue is still cleaned and de-inked,
the elimination of the whitening process ultimately reduces
manufacturing impact associated to the elimination of natural
gas and whitening chemicals. Virgin pulp prices have more
than doubled over the past three years, invoking price
increases in recycled fiber as well. By expanding to varied
fibers such as corrugated, Cascades believes it can hedge
its products’ exposure to commodity price fluctuations and
white fiber shortages outside its control, keeping tissue prices
affordable in its served markets. For more information about
Cascades Tissue Group, visit afh.cascades.com or sustain.
cascades.com.
LUX LIGHTING DESIGN’S BOLLARD SUCCESS
ALLY MEMBER LUX LIGHTING DESIGN recently converted
outdoor lighting of the Hilton Doubletree Bedford, MA’s
approximately 5 acres of beautifully groomed grounds and
terraces. The property’s gracious
landscape is used for outdoor
eating, weddings and other outdoor
events. Prior to this installation, the
grounds were originally lit with 150
watt incandescent bulbs in outdoor
fixtures. The fixtures were later
switched to include CFL screw-in
bulbs which were inappropriate for
the fixtures and resulted in a gloomy
nighttime look. These required a lot of maintenance related to
their position in grassy areas.
Doreen LeMay Madden, Owner and President as well as
Lux Lighting Design’s Certified lighting designer (LC), did
the necessary research to find the best technology for this
scenario. She chose 27 watt LED high efficiency, minimal
maintenance, 42” bollard pathlights with the best light levels
and color rendering to enhance the outdoor pathways. The
28 fixtures are generally lit 12 hours each day and are very
important to the general appearance and safety of the property
at night. The installation with save approximately 3,500 watts
per month on the property’s electric bill, and also resulted in a
$3,000 rebate from the State of Massachusetts for the energy
conservation on which Lux Lighting Design coordinated all
paperwork.
Lux is now preparing to convert the property’s lighting on their
three major parking areas. The goal will be to control glare
from guestrooms, provide high efficiency along with minimal
maintenance. Contact Doreen at 617/484-6400 or visit
luxld.com to learn more.
July / August 2013
713/789-8889, Fax 713/789-9786
P&G Achieves Zero Manufacturing Waste
at 45 Sites Worldwide
“P&G’s efforts are helping protect the environment, conserve
precious natural resources, and make our planet cleaner and
healthier for our children, families and future generations.”
Three-year ALLY MEMBER PROCTER & GAMBLE, the
Company behind consumer brands including Gillette®, Ariel®,
Tide® and Pampers® announced that 45 of their facilities have
now achieved zero manufacturing waste to landfill, which
marks a major step towards the company’s long-term vision of
sending zero manufacturing and consumer waste to landfills.
Over the past 5 years, P&G’s work to find worth in waste has
created over $1 billion in value for the company. P&G has a
vision for the future, where plants are powered by renewable
energy, products are made from recycled and renewable
materials and resources are conserved, with no waste going
to landfill. Changing the way the company sees waste has
brought P&G one step closer to this goal at 45 sites worldwide,
where all of the manufacturing waste is recycled, repurposed
or converted into energy.
P&G announced its first zero-manufacturing-waste-to-landfill
site in Budapest in 2007. Since then, the company has
shared a long-term Environmental Vision, pledging to work
toward zero consumer and manufacturing waste worldwide.
Through quality assurance, packaging reduction, compaction
and recycling efforts, the company now ensures that 99% of
all materials entering P&G plants leaves as finished product
or is recycled, reused or converted to energy. Now, as
the Company celebrates its 175th year, less than 1% of all
materials entering P&G sites globally leaves as waste!
To drive all sites toward zero, P&G has searched for innovative
ways to find value in what was once seen as waste. In
Mexico, paper sludge from a Charmin toilet tissue plant is
turned into low-cost roof tiles used to build homes in the
local community. At a US Pampers site, scrap from the wipe
manufacturing process is converted to upholstery filling. And,
in the UK, waste created in the production of Gillette shaving
foam is composted then used to grow turf for commercial uses.
Learn about these and other innovative reuse stories in the
short video “Worth from Waste.”
“There are well-defined systems for recycling materials like
paper, plastic and glass, but our product portfolio is incredibly
broad, resulting in a diverse set of waste streams for which to
find sustainable solutions,” shared Dr. Forbes McDougall, who
leads P&G’s global zero manufacturing waste program. Today,
we have found ways to divert most of our major waste streams
away from landfill, so we’re now seeing new sites achieve zero
manufacturing waste to landfill nearly every month.” Learn
more from the “Worth from Waste” video at youtube.com/
watch?v=GPLqLBT5q8c.
.
Hotels Embrace Green Laundries
for Big Savings
Going green is a hot topic among hoteliers, according to
Joel Jorgensen, ALLY MEMBER CONTINENTAL GIRBAU
INC. vice president. “This is because a hotel’s on-premise
laundry greatly impacts overall water, electricity and natural
gas usage,” he said. “It also impacts labor costs and
service quality.” No wonder hotels across North America
are embracing energy-efficient and productive Continental
washers, dryers and ironers. In doing so, hotels can curb
utility costs, boost productivity, reduce wastewater and
“Green” Hotels Association® Greening Newsletter
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Internet: greenhotels.com, e-mail: [email protected]
become greener in the process. Critical, too, is wash quality
and finishing quality. Continental equipment delivers superior
results.
With this in mind, the Westin® Riverwalk Hotel, located
in drought-stricken San Antonio, TX, recently reinvented
its on-premise laundry. The
remake involved the removal
of water-guzzling washers
for more efficient Continental
models, and the installation of a
complementing water reclamation
system. The rehabilitated laundry
gleaned a $29,000 rebate from the
San Antonio Water System, and
despite processing around 2.6 million pounds of laundry per
year, slashed water usage by 3.6 million gallons annually.
Key to its success is the laundry’s new Continental E-Series
high-speed, freestanding washer-extractors (two 130s and
one 55), and Continental L-Series hard-mount washers (two
125s), as well as an ozone and water reclamation system.
Productivity catapulted as water, natural gas and chemical
consumption plummeted.
The same holds true at the first LEED-certified hotel in
Tennessee―the Hilton Garden Inn in Gatlinburg. The green
hotel boasts an in-house laundry complete with an ozone
system, Continental E-Series high-speed washer-extractors
and Continental high-efficiency dryers. In five years, the
laundry will likely save $60,000.
At both properties, Continental E-Series high-speed washers
were embraced over traditional machines because of their
efficiency, productivity, ease-of-use and simple installation.
They also play a critical role in water, natural gas and energy
conservation. They reach 387 G-force extract speeds, unlike
traditional washers, and thus, remove considerably more water
per load. As a result, dry time is decreased
by up to 40%.
This means more laundry is completed in less time, using less
labor and natural gas.
When high-speed washers are combined with Continental
ironers, utility savings and productivity further improve.
Gouldings Lodge, a 68-room resort located in Monument
Valley, UT, saves $40,000 annually because it no longer
outsources laundry. The new on-premise laundry, which
includes Continental high-speed washer-extractors and drying
tumblers, also features a Continental flatwork ironer. Like the
Continental high-speed washers, the flatwork ironer bolsters
laundry productivity and cuts natural gas consumption and
electricity. Uniquely, damp linens are fed directly from the
washers into the ironer, where they are finished and folded
automatically. This eliminates the need for drying the linens
first, which conserves natural gas and electricity, while
extending linen life. Because linens aren’t tumbled dry, more
laundry is completed in less time, using less labor. Three
employees run the laundry three days per week. During their
10-hour shifts, they complete all the washing, drying, ironing
and folding.
Continental Girbau, Inc. is the largest of 14 subsidiaries of the
Girbau Group, based in Vic, Spain. Girbau laundry products,
marketed throughout 90 countries worldwide, hold both
ISO9001 and ISO14001 certifications, and is a member of the
U.S. Green Building Council (USGB). To find out more about
Continental laundry products, visit continentalgirbau.com or
call 800/256-1073.
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BATTERIES ON THE HEAD OF A PIN
People take batteries for granted, but they shouldn’t. All
kinds of technological advances hinge on developing smaller
and more powerful mobile energy sources. Researchers at
Harvard University and the University of Illinois are reporting
just such a creation, one that happens to be no bigger than
a grain of sand. These tiny but powerful lithium-ion batteries
raise the prospect of a new generation of medical and other
devices that can go where traditional larger batteries can’t.
Many devices already derive too much of their weight and bulk
from batteries. But with a tiny battery, implantable sensors
might, for example, send reports from inside the body while
being recharged by the beating of a human heart.
In the Harvard-Illinois research, tiny wasn’t even the whole
point. Researchers made these new batteries by spitting them
from a custom 3-D printer using special electrochemical inks.
Jennifer Lewis, a materials scientist at Harvard, says these
batteries can store more energy because 3-D printing enables
the stacking of electrodes in greater volume than the thinfilm methods now used to make microbatteries. 3-D-printed
batteries can deliver more power because the printing process
allows the anode and cathode—the alpha and omega of
any battery, shuttling ions and electrons between them—to
be placed closer together. That raises the prospect of, say,
hearing aids with rechargeable batteries molded right into the
body of the device. Or smartphones with batteries woven into
every spare millimeter. Or robotic insects covered with battery
material and photovoltaic cells, so they can hover untethered
while drawing on solar power.
The implication is that someday practically anything can be
made to store and discharge energy, as long as someone
can figure out how to have a printer (directed by a computer)
extrude layers of functional materials with great precision.
Who says printing is dead? On the contrary, it’s about to
become electrifying.
Akst, Daniel, “Batteries on the Head of a Pin,” The Wall
Street Journal, The Week, June 22-23, 2013
Satellites hint at water depletion,
threat to farming
Satellites peering down on California’s great Central Valley
have discovered evidence that the nation’s prime food
source is fast losing precious reserves of water from the
valley’s underground aquifers. Loss of water from beneath
the surface, combined with increasing shortages of surface
irrigation caused by climate change is quietly adding up to a
crisis that threatens one of the state’s major industries. “We
don’t recognize the dire water situation we face,” said Jay
Famiglietti, a UC Irvine hydrologist who has monitored those
stored water levels every month since the spacecraft began
measuring the sources 11 years ago. Even as those reserves
are being depleted, diminished surface water sources are
forcing many farm districts in the region to pump their water
from ever deeper levels of the underground aquifers.
Pumps that once brought up water from 500 feet deep are now
reaching as deep as 900 or even 1,500 feet. As you suck that
water out of deep clay layers, you not only get subsidence, but
changes in water quality. It’s salty, and acidic, and that’s not
good for crops.”
California farmers have long faced chronic water shortages,
“Green” Hotels Association® Greening Newsletter
July / August 2013
Internet: greenhotels.com, e-mail: [email protected]
and this year the mountain snowpack has been at barely half
its normal water yield. Managers of the project have warned
that the irrigation districts south of the delta will be allocated
only 20% of the water for which they have contracted. That
could force farmers to pump more water out of the aquifers,
which are filled by long, sustained drainage from above.
We’re losing those groundwater reserves every month,
and with climate change affecting snowmelt, the risks and
uncertainties are changing faster than ever. We don’t see that
there’ll be any replenishment in the future, so there’s a critical
need to improve the way we monitor and regulate groundwater
systems now.
Perlman, David, “Satellites hint at water depletion, threat
to farming,” Houston Chronicle, June 21, 2013
Spray for aphids kills Bumblebees
by the thousands
Oregon officials say a pesticide is to blame for the deaths of
tens of thousands of bumblebees in a shopping center parking
lot southwest of Portland. The state Department of Agriculture
said Friday that tests on bees and foliage showed the deaths
are “directly related to a pesticide application on linden trees”
that was meant to control aphids.”
“Spray for aphids kills Bumblebees by the thousands,” Houston
Chronicle, Around the Nation, June 23, 2013
LEADING THE WAY ON GREEN MEETINGS
The Hyatt Regency Trinidad recently hosted the Caribbean
Tourism Organization’s 14th Sustainable Tourism Conference,
but the resort’s commitment to preserving the planet runs
deeper than putting on a good show: The property also has
one of the best green meeting programs in the Caribbean.
Located on the waterfront in Port of Spain, the capital
city of Trinidad and Tobago, the Hyatt Regency is a huge
destination for corporate and regional meetings, many of
which revolve around the country’s energy industry, and thus
a great standard-bearer for raising awareness of eco-friendly
meetings and conventions.
Specifically, the hotel’s “Meet and Be Green” program
offers planners 3% off their master bill when they follow 10
“environmentally thoughtful” steps. The program works
hand-in-hand with the hotel’s new food philosophy: Food.
Thoughtfully Sourced. Carefully Served. The philosophy
focuses on using locally and sustainably-sourced food.
“Meeting planners are demanding certain assurances that
their meetings be greener—no disposables, no plastics, an
energy-conservation plan in order,” says Ewald Biemens,
owner of Aruba’s 19-Year GHA PARTNER MEMBER BUCUTI
BEACH RESORT, who spoke at this year’s Sustainable
Tourism Conference and runs one of the most eco-friendly
hotels in the Caribbean. Several of Aruba’s hotels have
received environmental recognition for their programs.
10 STEPS TO GREEN:
Hyatt Regency Trinidad’s “Meet and Be Green” program
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Use products with 100% recycled content
Print materials locally
Minimize shipping
Recycle during meetings
Place meeting materials (such as handouts, notepads, pens, etc.) in a central location so attendees can take July / August 2013
713/789-8889, Fax 713/789-9786
only what they need, rather than placing them at every seat
6. Maintain room temperatures at an appropriate level
7. Eliminate use of disposable water bottles
8. Minimize use of other disposable products such as plates, cups, napkins and utensils
9. Select locally-grown seasonal foods when planning menus
10. Plan ahead for the meeting to make it easier and more economical to keep the meeting green.
“Awareness of green and sustainable meetings is there with
the larger meeting planners. Professional meeting planners
have taken a leadership position on this issue. It’s almost
a requirement in the sales process that they want to know
what green or eco-friendly processes you have. Our plan can
start the conversation,” explained Russell George, general
manager of the Hyatt Regency Trinidad.
“The hotels are being more environmentally cautious in that
they are applying new and innovative recycling procedures,
hence Aruba’s being recognized internationally. The Aruba
Convention Bureau supports and strongly encourages its
partners to consider the environment, and sets an example,
as we have reduced our paper consumption down to 20%
and moved to an 80% digital format. This new wave of
consciousness is being conveyed by our local government
through various environmental awareness programs,” said
Jerusha Rasmijn, conferences and event manager at the
Aruba Convention Bureau.
Curley, Bob, “Leading the Way on Green Meetings,” Successful Meetings, June 2013, p. 92
One Bedroom with Central Algae
A new apartment building in Hamburg, Germany, uses algae
walls to produce all its own energy. Algae don’t cover the
building like, say, ivy. Instead, the sun-facing walls sport
bioreactors that use sunlight to grow the tiny plants, which
will receive continuously circulating liquid nutrients and
carbon dioxide. Periodically the algae will be harvested
for fermentation, forming a gas-emitting biomass meant to
produce all the building’s heat, hot water and electricity. The
algae-growing façade panels also harvest solar energy, which
can be stored in brine-holes dug more than 250 feet into the
ground.
“1BR, with central Algae,” The Wall Street Journal, Ideas Market, April 13-14, 2013
Bright Ideas for Those Burned-Out CFLs
What to do with those burned-out compact fluorescent
lightbulbs or CFLs? They contain a small amount of mercury,
so here are some ideas on how to dispose of them properly:
•
Contact your local waste collection agency about its policies
for recycling the bulbs.
• Earth911.com is a good place to look for collection or dropoff locations and schedules. This website has information
about recycling and repurposing all sorts of materials.
• Local hardware stores, especially big-box ones such as
Lowe’s and Home Depot, often offer in-store recycling.
• Check with your CFL manufacturer. Some sell prelabeled
kits so you can mail back your used lightbulbs.
• As a last resort, the Environmental Protection Agency
suggests putting your old CFLs in a (double? triple?) plastic
bag before putting them in with your regular trash to help
prevent the mercury from escaping.
“Bright Ideas for Those Burned-Out CFLs,” Texas Co-op Power, July 2013
“Green” Hotels Association® Greening Newsletter
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Internet: greenhotels.com, e-mail: [email protected]
In August 2013 New York City’s largest hotel, the Hilton
Midtown, will stop providing room service to its almost 2,000
rooms, at the cost of 55 staff. Attempts will be made to find
alternative employment within the hotel for those affected
by the staffing cuts, but this will depend upon qualifications
and availability. Travelzoo’s editorial director, Andrew Young,
admitted that it is both time consuming and costly to cater
to over 2,000 guests. The Hilton Hawaiian Village stopped
providing room service in October. Young added that similar
to recent policies adopted by airlines, hotels are implementing
measures to reduce costs.
In a similar move to save resources, many hotel companies
are providing more rooms without room service, and
the Holiday Inn Express line will have 454 new hotels
(approximately 52,000 rooms) added to their limited-service
brand. Intercontinental Hotels Group president (Americas)
reported that guests were not ordering in as often or spending
as much on room service, so providing room service was
becoming less financially viable.
Smith Travel Research senior vice president, Jan Freitag,
stated that even hotel restaurants are struggling to make
money. Over the past decade the number of hotel rooms
with limited service increased by 16%, but there was only an
increase of 6% in rooms with full service. Spas, mini-bars and
business centers are becoming increasingly unpopular, and
there is an increasing desire to have free parking, breakfast
and Wi-Fi, as revealed by a
TripAdvisor survey conducted
recently. While guests see
parking, breakfast and Wi-Fi
as being a free bonus, many
hotels are including the cost
into the room price, and the
average daily rate for a room,
e.g. in Seattle rose 34% to $229
in comparison to last year’s
rate, according to Orbitz.com, one of many travel websites.
Similarly, San Francisco room rates increased 26% to $265
over the same period.
Some up-scale luxury hotels aiming to provide their guests
with a premium experience will be adding concierge services
to make room prices justifiable, and to qualify for AAA’s muchcoveted fifth diamond. Others are substituting valets, bellhops
and room service with breakfast, parking and Internet in their
room rates.
Getaroom.com’s president of booking, Bob Diener, believes
that there is a definite move away from the traditional front
desk reception in favor of check-in kiosks and clerks with
tablets in the lobby. He went on to say that in addition
to staff reductions dynamic pricing is becoming far more
commonplace, with prices changing several times throughout
the day, giving guests the opportunity to enjoy considerable
savings on room rates depending on when they book and for
how many nights.
713/789-8889, Fax 713/789-9786
HOTEL BEDS
HOTELS ADOPTING “NO FRILLS” APPROACH
Hotel guests may be in for a shock next time they check in
as many hotels adopt a similar “no frills” approach to service
as airlines. Being greeted by a clerk at the front desk may
be a thing of the past. Worse still, you may have to haul your
own bags up to your room, and forget about calling for room
service, as hotels cut costs by doing without bellhops and
room service wait staff.
Many hotel chains aim to sell a good night’s sleep—at their
properties and in their guests’ homes. Starwood’s Westin
Hotels initiated the trend of mattresses as souvenirs when it
introduced the Heavenly Bed in 1999, a pillow-top model that
has sold more than 100,000 units, the company said. It is now
for sale in Nordstrom and Pottery Barn. “I was staying at the
Four Seasons, New York, and had the best
sleep of my life,” said Jeremy Murphy, VP of
communications at CBS, who purchased a
queen-size Four Seasons Stearns & Foster
bed after his visit. Here are queen-size
mattress/box-spring sets selling at leading
hotels:
Hilton Serenity Bed by Serta – $1,695
– Hilton, which sells its beds through its e-commerce site,
saw a 4% sales increase in 2012. In addition to the bed and
bedding, visitors to hiltontohome.com can buy shampoos,
coffee and the in-room bedside clock radio.
Westin Heavenly Bed – $1,375 – Westin has seen retail
bed sales’ revenues surpass $125 million as of September
2012. The chain sells over 100 Heavenly Beds per month at
checkout in its Asian properties. Westin also offers a Heavenly
Dog bed for $225.
Four Seasons Stearns & Foster Ultra Plush Pillowtop –
$2,398 – The Four Seasons doesn’t advertise the availability
of its beds and has no e-commerce site for in-room
furnishings. But upon request, a property’s concierge will sell
the entire bedding package: beds, sheets, duvets and pillows.
Marriott 7-inch Foam Bed – $1,850 – Marriott has been
selling beds since it introduced the ShopMarriott program in
2006. The hotel chain has used foam mattresses instead of
inner-spring beds since 1966. In 2012, the company sold
more than 1,000 beds though its website and more than
15,000 pillows.
Sheraton Sweet Sleeper – $1,450 – Sheraton redesigned its
bedding in 2008 to meet the AAA’s 5-Diamond Award Criteria,
eliminating throw pillows. The small pillows were the most
popular stolen item from rooms as airlines began eliminating
pillows on domestic flights.
The W Bed – $1,379 – The W Bed was introduced for sale in
2000 on the success of beds from other Starwood hotels, such
as the Westin Heavenly and the Sheraton Sweet Sleeper. W
offers three versions of its signature bed—a firm plush top,
a pillow top and the Extreme W for a “princess and the pea”
night’s sleep.
Hyatt Grand Bed – $1,399 – Introduced in rooms in 2004, this
bed went on sale in 2006 on hyattathome.com, where 1,000
mattresses have been sold since. But Hyatt offers home and
travel products on its website, including wines developed by
Mondavi for Hyatt.
Rose, Sarah, “The going Rate: Hotel Beds,” The Wall
Street Journal, Style & Travel, April 24, 2013
Top Tips To The Safe Cleanup of Bodily Fluids
It is not uncommon for messy accidents resulting in blood
on surfaces to occur in schools, offices, industrial and other
locations. Very often, cleaning professionals are asked to
hygienically clean up after such incidents.
http://www.tourism-review.com/hotels-no-frills-approach-growing-in-popularitynews3738#1gIkhx0wyGDLdXmQ.99, June 17, 2013
6
“Green” Hotels Association® Greening Newsletter
July / August 2013
Internet: greenhotels.com, e-mail: [email protected]
713/789-8889, Fax 713/789-9786
While these accidents rarely reach the level of “crime scene”
cleaning, many of the same steps and precautions taken when
performing crime scene cleanup apply to these unfortunate
incidents as well. To effectively clean these areas and protect
the health and safety of the cleaning worker, kaivac.com offers
the following tips and suggestions:
cortical correlates of persons actively engaged within
differing environments, but new developments in mobile
electroencephalography
(EEG), however, now allow
exactly such measurements
to be made.
• Blood and tissue at the accident site must be treated as
biohazards. Nonporous personal protective gear must be
worn and disposed of once the area has been cleaned.
In this recent study, a
research team from
Herriot-Watt University
in Edinburgh, United
Kingdom, outfitted a group
of test subjects with mobile
electrodes fastened to their heads. The subjects then took
programmed walks in three different environments—an urban
shopping district, a park with a lush green environment, and a
busy commercial zone.
• Biohazard waste must be placed in 55-gallon, heavy-duty
liners, sealed and disposed of at a medical waste incinerator; it
cannot be disposed of like regular trash.
• If the accident occurred on a carpeted area and blood or
bodily fluids are noticeable, cleaners should assume more has
soaked through the carpet to the subfloor underneath; in most
cases, the carpet should be removed and the subfloor cleaned
with a hospital-grade disinfectant.
• Hospital-grade disinfectants should also be used to wipe
clean all nearby surfaces that are splattered, including
counters, desks, ceilings, walls, light fixtures and equipment
such as computers, phones, etc.
• No-touch cleaning systems are often recommended to
clean floors and other surfaces, eliminating contact with
contaminated surfaces. (Note: the wastewater must be treated
as a biohazard.)
• If odors persist, it may be because bodily fluids have gotten
into air ducts and hard-to-reach areas; industrial foggers that
release cleaning agents into the air can often eradicate these
odors.
“Cleaning workers should also put parameters on this type of
cleaning,” says Matt Morrison, communications manager for
Kaivac. “If the accident is serious and very messy, a crime
scene cleaning professional may be necessary to clean up the
accident.”
Kaivac Cleaning Systems, kaivac.com
http://cleanlink.com/news/article/Top-Tips-To-The-SafeCleanup-of-Bodily-Fluids--15628, May 24, 2013
Nature is Good for your Health!
A walk in the park can calm and restore you. This is something
we take for granted in parks and recreation, because we have
known it to be true ever since we started spending time in
nature.
But new research reported in the British Journal of Sports
Medicine now provides scientific proof that walking in
nature and spending time under leafy shade trees causes
electrochemical changes in the brain that can lead people to
enter a highly beneficial state of “effortless attention.”
The UK researchers state with some justifiable academic
stuffiness that “. . . happiness, or the presence of positive
emotional mindsets, broadens an individual’s thought-action
repertoire with positive benefits to physical and intellectual
activities, and to social and psychological resources.”
They assert that this mental benefit—happiness, if you will—
occurs in individuals who are engaged in play, exploration,
or other discovery-type activities. They note that until
now, technology has not permitted scientists to study the
July / August 2013
Dolesh, Richard J., “Nature is Good for your Health!,” The Ecologist, May 14, 2013
JUG HEADS
To liven up your laundry room, mount a menagerie of plasticjug trophy heads. Our hunting grounds yielded the makings of
a pig, a warthog, and an antelope, but your recycling bin may
suggest a different animal collective.
What you’ll need:
• Masking tape
• Clean plastic jug
• Craft knife
• Scissors
• Cotton swab (optional)
• Rubbing alcohol (optional)
• Cleaner, such as Goo Gone (optional)
• Pushpin
• Wooden skewer
• Floral wire (we used 18-gauge)
• Assorted plastic recyclables, such as milkjug caps, twist caps, cutlery and hangers
• Glue dots
• Duct tape
• Adhesive-backed Velcro
• Fishing line
How to make it:
1. Head: Use masking tape to mark an
angled cut line around the jug, as shown.
Use a craft knife to puncture the jug, then
use scissors to cut off the bottom section. If
necessary, rinse the jug again and let it dry.
To remove stamped bar codes and expiration
dates, rub them with a cotton swab dipped
in rubbing alcohol. For sticky labels, try a
cleaner such as Goo Gone.
2. Horns: Use the pushpin to punch two
holes in the top of the head, then use the
skewer to widen them. Cut two lengths of
floral wire (ours measure 18 inches). With the pushpin, make
a hole in the center of 35-40 milk-jug caps. For each horn,
press a glue dot into the tip of an opened twist cap (such as a
mustard top), then insert the wire and screw the cap closed.
Thread on milk-jug caps, leaving at least 6 inches free at the
end. Insert the wire stem into a horn hole and pull it snug.
Bend the stem flat against the inside of the jug and secure it
with duct tape. Wrap a length of tape around the end of the
stem.
“Green” Hotels Association® Greening Newsletter
7
Internet: greenhotels.com, e-mail: [email protected]
3. Ears: Use scissors to cut ear shapes from the discarded
bottom section of the jug or from other plastic. To attach them,
stretch a length of duct tape vertically down the back of the jug,
sticky side out. Tape over the ends of the strip inside the jug to
reinforce them. Press the ears onto the tape, then add more
tape to secure them.
4. Facial features: Use the Velcro to attach bottle-cap eyes.
Use glue dots to add bottle-cap noses and other details, as
shown. If necessary, stack multiple glue dots to even out
hollows or dips.
EYELASH: plastic fork, handle removed
EYE: caps from milk jug and sport bottle
TUSKS: plastic shoe display hooks
NOSE: whipped cream can cap
EYE: caps from milk jug, water bottle and tacky glue bottle
NOSE: orange-juice carton pull tabs, on a spice bottle cap
MOUTH: milk jug cap seal, cut open
EYE: gumball machine toy container and a dish soap bottle
cap
NOSE: vanilla extract bottle cap with plastic sock hooks
5. Hanger: Use a pushpin to punch two small holes at the top
of the head. Push a length of fishing line in one hole and pull it
out the other, then knot the ends.
Brown, Amy, http://spoonful.com/crafts/jug-heads-0
Airlines Jettison a Costly Load of Paper
Airline pilots, who fly some of world’s most technologically
advanced machines, have long relied on paper navigation
charts and manuals, which clutter the cockpit and have to be
lugged around in cases that can weigh more than 35 pounds.
Now, however, airlines are catching up with the tablet era.
JetBlue Airways Corp said it has received regulatory clearance
to provide its 2,500 pilots with Apple iPads that will store digital
copies of the heavy paper manuals they refer to during flights.
AMR Corp.’s American Airlines said its 8,000 pilots had largely
gone paperless now that the carrier has completed the rollout
of its own iPad program. By storing manuals and navigation
charts on iPads, American figures it has eliminated 3,000
pages of paper per pilot. American estimates that removing
the pilots’ bags from all its plans saves about 400,000 gallons
of fuel annually, worth $1.2 million at current prices.
“Green” Hotels
Association®
P. O. Box 420212
Houston, TX 77242-0212
Return Service Requested
Committed to encouraging, promoting and supporting
ecological consciousness in the hospitality industry.
713/789-8889, Fax 713/789-9786
Kiersten Morvant, an Alaska Airlines first officer, said the best
part of the change isn’t the reduced weight, but rather that the
iPad can be “synced” on a secure airline server and take in all
the new chart and manual information, notices to airmen and
other revisions. Pilots used to have to manually insert those
changes into their paper documents, which could take hours.
Carey, Susan, “Airlines Jettison a Costly Load of Paper,” The
Wall Street Journal, Business Technology, June 27, 2013
CO-OP BUYING!
SALE! SALE! SALE!
Member Discount on
Laminated Towel and Sheet Cards
Prices for towel and sheet cards will be discounted about 15%
on all member orders until August 15. The sale-priced cards,
our laminated Towel-Rack Hangers and Sheet-Changing
Cards, are our best selling cards. The recycled-paper cards,
printed with soy-based ink are available with English on Side
1. Translations into Spanish, German, French and Japanese
are on Side 2.
Regular prices are:
Laminated Towel Hangers:
(Green ink) ea/$0.90, 100/$60, 500/$240
(4-color) ea/$1.40, 100/$100, 500/$400
Laminated Sheet Cards:
ea/$0.75, 100/$50, 500/$200
Member Discount on Towel And Sheet Cards:
Discounted prices until August 15, 2013 are:
Laminated Towel Hangers:
(Green ink) ea/$0.75, 100/$50, 500/$200
(4-color) ea/$1.20, 100/$85, 500/$340
Laminated Sheet Cards:
ea/$0.50, 100/$40, 500/$160
Order Now and Save! Call 713/789-8889 or send
an e-mail to [email protected] TODAY!
FINAL WORDS . . .
“The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.
Ralph Waldo Emerson