Leaving Las Vegas for the Grand Canyon, I had a lot of expectations around the vast natural beauty I was soon to explore. What I didn't expect was a sustainable lodging experience, second-to-none, with an honest concern for treading lightly on the Earth.My hotel room at the Grand National Park Lodge surprised me with:Bulk hand [...]
If you are attending the Living Future unConference 2014, relax we've got you covered. Even before you made plans to attend, The Living Future Institute conference organizers and MeetGreen team were on the job, planning an environmentally-responsible event. The first step was choosing a Green Seal and Green Key Certified hotel, the Hilton Portland & [...]
You know the basic rules of staying in a hotel, such as not stealing the bathrobes or keeping your neighbors up late at night. Right? Today, we are talking about basic rules for traveling green. Somewhere between leaving home and arriving in the hotel room, many travelers forget about being environmentally responsible. People, who wouldn’t [...]
FLOSS? That's right, choose Fresh, Local, Organic, Seasonal and Sustainable food for your events and meetings. According to Chef Steven Ward, DoubleTree by Hilton Portland, during his recent presentation at the GMIC Sustainable Events Conference, this easy-to-remember acronym will help you select a fabulous, healthy menu for your guests.Chef Ward recommends the event planner work [...]
Call me crazy, but when I see a bin like this...I leap to the conclusion that items placed in the correct slot will be recycled. Not necessarily true! Within days of the greenwashing article I wrote being posted, I came across more "dirty laundry." Our client was using a property they held a meeting in several [...]
"We just can't help it. Once we got started on green practices, we keep asking ourselves and each other, 'What's next?', 'What else can we do?'" Grace Lial, Director of Guest Services at the DoubleTree by Hilton - Portland, was simply beaming as she described their latest ideas. Grace wasn't telling us this because [...]
What's new in green or sustainable meetings? I find it interesting how frequently I am asked this question. We are so trained to look for the new, fresh, latest trends in everything we do. Anxious to be done with the last part, check it off our list and move on to something more exciting.It might [...]
Continuing on with our "simplifying sustainable meetings" theme over the past few posts, today let's cover some basics for selecting green sleeping accommodations. Here are the simple steps: 1. Start early in the selection process even before the RFP. If you are working with a convention and visitors bureau, ask them to send you a [...]
Want to make a green meeting manager swoon during their visit to your hotel? Interested in a new version of the VIP treatment? Want to avoid potential "landmines?" We offer up these tips for hotels based on our actual site inspections over the past six months...DO prepare your sustainability policies and present them without being [...]
Many of you may remember the legendary Hotel del Coronado from Marilyn Monroe's film, Some Like it Hot. Others have held their own legendary meetings there. Either way, when an 123 year old hotel does what it takes to receive Green Seal Certification, we take notice.Here is a partial list of the changes they made:Replaced [...]