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Immaculata University in southeast Pennsylvania has replaced 20 standard water fountains with new "hydration stations." In addition to the regular spout, there is an outflow at the top. The fountains' tap water is supplied by Elkay, an Illinois-based water supply company. Each fountain has the ability to keep track of the number of refills and displays it as the number of water bottles that are NOT going into a landfill as a result. Putting a number to this green initiaive is a great way to get people involved and make them more aware of how much they can contribute by doing simple things like reusing a water bottle. It also encourages students to drink more water instead of sugary sodas and other carbonated beverages. With about half of the students using refillable bottles last year, the university's environmental club plans to hold events and give away refillable bottles to increase the use of these fountains.  I think it is great that you can see the contribution you are making with the tracker on the fountain, as I am all for doing my part to reduce waste headed to landfills. I just wonder how much waste is being produced by replacing the still-working standard fountains. 

In the video we had about e-wastes, people cannot really know where their dumped devices would be and most of them are not really care about recycling. This new ATM can collect used devices directly from users and the company which is doing this is definitely certified by government which will follow the laws and recycle them. This machine eliminates the possible that people just dump the devices, because they will be motivated by the value of recycling;. This is not really a cutting edge technology, but the meaning of this is that it can increase the percentage of e-wastes recycling.

I think it's pretty sad to see that people would try and take advantage of such a wonderful environmental and economic system. Asides from now being able to turn in your cell phone for monetary value and recycling purposes, you can also donate your used to battered women shelters, I have done this before. Although, the phone would not fully work if there was no service provider, women would still be able to make emergency phone calls should they have to.

The hundred year old, Dorchester Collection's Beverly Hills Hotel participates in various green initiatives within the hotel as well as around the world. The hotel purchases only green products, donates partially used toilet paper, donates soap and amenities to local and global shelters and organizations. Most importantly they participate in proper e-waste of electronics.  I think this Beverly Hill Hotel sets a great standard for all hotels. Not only does their hotel practice green initiatives but they take that extra step and their employees participate in beach clean ups. 

Fairmont Hotels has reduced their CO2 output significantly "Over the last few years, Fairmont has identified and implemented a number of key initiatives to help reduce its carbon footprint.  These have included the creation of an internal framework to track, monitor and report on key energy and carbon data, appointing regional champions to oversee audit and data controls, and the introduction of a new Engineer of the Year award to recognize and reward outstanding environmental performance. "  This is very exciting to read that a hotel is physically attempted to make a positive change in order to better the environment. Fairmont is advancing by promising to reduce carbon and add efficient boilers, and a waste management system that will convert waste into energy! 

This article is about Hilton's sustainable system, LightStay. This sustainability measurement system has allowed the company to save more than $74million in utility costs. This system decreased the amount of waste remarkably around 19% down. From the article, sustainability is not just an option or responsiblity on the environment, it also could reduce the costs so that contributes to maximize profits.

Heartland Payment Systems has recently partnered up with ToGo Technologies to offer mobile and online ordering payment solutions for restaurants. The companies are actually focusing on expanding their market reach by targeting smaller franchises that typically could not afford the hardware and software cost of purchasing such technology. QSRs are hopping on the tech bandwagon. The article gives the example of Taziki's Mediterranean Café, which is a fast casual restaurant with 35 locations. Their guests have easily made the transition from manual to digital ordering. Like others in this market space, Heartland Payment Systems is offering a cloud-based product that is highly customizable. The software takes into account a litany of restaurant industry standards and methods, such as "takeout, delivery, curbside pickup, catering, order from the table, and gift and loyalty." By giving restaurants various templates, they can work on optimizing mobile solutions, including pay-ahead options for quick service. Moreover, their system integrates and tracks key metrics and analytics, improving data mining and collection efforts. More and more businesses are turning to data collection as a means of increasing efficiencies and decreasing waste. With the amount of waste it must deal with regularly, the restaurant industry is a great market to target with data-driven technology. Heartland Payment Systems already has a history of working with the hospitality industry, so it a recognized name. By partnering with ToGo Technologies, they will be able to provide a quality, whitelabel mobile solution for restaurants looking to stay ahead of the pack with technological advances. Heartland will actually be demonstrating their software at the Food Service Technology-Next Gen conference next weekend at the Sheraton in New Orleans, Louisiana for those interested in this product.

The article introduces five ways to improve eco-friendly reputation for hotels. Recently, many tourists are interested in green and sustainability, and when they choose the hotel, the characteristic about sustainable business operation can be a big benefit tourist can consider. First, it is about eco-friendly heating and energy. The energy bill takes up a lot when considering the total expenditure, so it is necessary for hotels to manage the power effectively. By utilizing energy management system, hotel can track the energy consumption in the entire building and control the expense. Second, hotel can adopt waste reduction technology. Most wastes are coming from poor stock control. Thus, hotel should employ the tracking system to monitor the items that are being disposed of often, and use the record when they purchase the items. Third, sustainable laundry can be the way to operate the eco-friendly hotel. Eco-friendly polymer laundry beads can reduce the water usage and electricity expense. Also, an effective material can cut down the frequency for linen to be replaced. Fourth, lighting technology can be used. By applying the occupancy sensors, hotel can cut down the cost, and use energy more effectively. Lastly, it is iPad POS system. According to the article, they said iPad POS saves about 97% of power consumption compared to Window-based system. To sum up, these five ways can be adopted for sustainable hotel operation, and having the eco-friendly hotel brand will be a big advantage to increase millennial guests and advertise the hotel.

This article describes the ways to make the hotel greener and more appealing to the environmentally aware guests

Summary of sustainability trends in the Hotel Industry

Sustainability in the hospitality industry was introduced back in the late 80's. Ever since then it has been a growing movement, seeking the best and most efficient strategies for hotels and tourism. In 1992, The United Nations Conference on Environmental Development (UNCED) recognized that travel and tourism would be one of the most benefitted by sustainability trends. In 1996 three organizations (World Travel & Tourism Council, World Tourism Organization, and the Earth Council) met to create a global environmental certification program called "Agenda 21". Consequently, Green Globe was created after to set targets and functioning standards based on environmental development. Hotels receiving the "Green Globe" address issues within their hotel that include: * Greenhouse emissions * Energy efficiency * Management of freshwater resources * Ecosystem conservation * Waste water and solid Waste management Hospitality is the fastest growing global industry. In 2014 it was stated that it contributes $7 trillion annually to the total world gross domestic product. There is a huge incentive for sustainability due to customers being conscious of the impact their actions have on the planet. Soon green and sustainability will become the standard rather than an option.

This is a smart move, both from a environmental and a cost cutting perspective as refillable containers will likely reduce costs over the long run. Marriott has been looking at replacing this process for years (Marriott Banning Little Shampoo Bottles By 2020 Associated Press - https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/marriott-banning-little-shampoo-bottles-2020-n1047116) However, even Marriott admits that it doesn't have the process right yet. There will be a significant impact to smaller operators whom 1) Will be challenged with an additional increase in cost for new dispensary options 2) Have less access to big brand economy of scale purchasing which specialized dispensary products will require. Though this is as a policy almost a foregone conclusion, there seems little doubt that extensive thought has to be put into the impact on operators as a whole, and the customer made cognizant of the fact that costs will rise due to this change.

This article details the up and coming new trend of restaurants offering customers the ability to be able to pay at their table. The article details the various pros and cons associated with the type of service and how it can benefit the customer as well as the employees of a restaurant establishment. While not perfect, there are many pros associated with a pay-at-the-table service that are hard to ignore, and it is my humble opinion that this kind of service will continue to catch on into the near future. Customers are increasingly looking for new ways to utilize technology to their advantage to be able to get in and out of a restaurant and pay-at-the-table technology definitely allows that. The companies that adopt this kind of technology will increasingly see their profits grow as well as their table turn increase.

Electronic waste is more than an economical problem. It also affects the health of millions of people who make a living by stripping out the waste dumped in their countries. Environmental experts say it will take new funds and manpower to solve the problem, by establishing safe recycling facilities and curbing illegal exports.

To move toward a circular economy, manufacturers would also need to embrace a "green design" that minimizes the generation of e-waste in the first place.

It is hard by nature for hotels to be green. Between the constant washing of linens, chemicals being used to clean and the amount of products and waste they throw out it is hard for hotels to keep up. But good news is here as hotels step up their "green game". Hotels are starting to put more money into green savings and hoping to get more travelers in return. Green hotels bring in a much higher occupancy rate on travel websites than hotels who are not. These guests are looking for green hotels not only for what they believe in but for the experience the hotel is providing. Hotels that are going green with new cutting edge technology is something more other hotels are trying to jump on board with.

This article Danny King, discusses how hotel operators are increasing choosing green options for their hotels. While some companies chose to invest on cutting energy, water and waste; some brands are being created with environmental sustainability as part of their core values. It is estimated that the 5 million hotels rooms in the U.S. racked up almost $4 billion in energy bills in 2011. Hotels contain an estimated 30% - 70% of public spaces that need to be heated, cooled and cleaned daily which consumes chemicals and energy. Most guests, would guess that hotels leading the green initiative are in areas such as Portland or Seattle; but surprisingly, Las Vegas is leading the trend! Las Vegas is home to the two largest LEED-certified hotels in the world, Sands' Venetian and Palazzo. CityCenter hotels, the Aria Hotel Tower, Mandarin Oriental and Vdara, have been able to recycle 50% of their waste in 2011. Most brands now have green options for their guests. Starwood, for example, has a Make a Green Choice option where guest opt out of housekeeping services and receive 500 points towards their SPG account or in some areas $5 credit towards Food & Beverage. Element Hotels has about 90 hotels, most of which are LEED-certified and although most of their guests do choice their hotels because they are green, they continue to return for that reason.

The focus on sustainability or "going green" is quickly becoming a major trend. This article introduce 25 ways that hotels can use to develop sustainable economic. Supporting sustainable initiatives is important to the lodging industry as a whole. hotels need to continue to innovate and the future of technology in hospitality has to be green, or those brands that do not adopt to these emerging standards face being left behind.

This is an excellent, comprehensive article and research study that fully looks at environmental technology through interviews with hotel professionals. It has many specific examples of hotel environmental technologies. It also specifically looks at energy, water and waste in the hotel industry.

The article discusses the necessity of implementing sustainable and green smart technology in the hospitality industry. It is a trend that will be of utmost important to the millennials traveler where they expect hotels especially to have in place the eco-friendly practices and processes. The article shows how through, green building designs, water conservation, waste management, etc. hotels are making these green changes.

"Technology and innovation are what have helped, even saved, restaurants as they transform how they operate to not just survive, but thrive, in this new connected and contactless era" "Third-party food delivery apps like UberEats, Foodpanda, or Door Dash will continue to be an important solution for those not able to offer in-house ordering and delivery services" "Contactless technology is going mainstream, and it's not just about placing an order online, but also about paying with a smartphone, smartwatch or smartcard via an app or touchless device" "technology-enabled reservation systems, restaurants can manage seating, waitlists, customer loyalty and dining preferences as well as collect vital client data be it for contact tracing or market insights" "Kitchen Display Systems (KDS) are a digital menu board for kitchen staff helping restaurants streamline back-of-house operations" "companies like Winnow are helping restaurant owners and managers cut food waste and costs and run their businesses more efficiently and sustainably" "auto-scanning barcodes with smartphone cameras on posters, tables, coasters, doors or websites allows customers to access online menus, order and pay - without contact" "air purification technologies to promote 'clean air'" https://diigo.com/0lmspn

Some of these technologies such as food delivery services, and conctactless payments I have grown used to as a consumer. However, technology like KDS to improve the back of house operations or air purification technologies are more behind the scenes type of technologies that I have not given much thought so I found this article interesting.

Many restaurants are adapting to a new reality. Some of the digital trends to watch in 2022 are as follows: 1. Online ordering systems and delivery apps - Food delivery market worth more than $150 billion globally. 2. Contactless payment estimated to triple from $2 trillion to $6 trillion by 2024. 3. Online table reservation system such as Open table Experiences initiative offering unique culinary events and dinner experiences. 4. Digital kitchen boards such as KDS, a digital menu board for kitchen staff linked to the restaurant's POI which displays orders automatically and efficiently. 5. Automated inventory management software tracking food and beverage stocks, anticipating quantities and scheduling reorders. 6. QR codes that allow customers to access menus online, order and pay. 7. Air purification technology like bipolar ionization and ultraviolet light.

Cornell gathered a few industry design and green tech experts to discuss the future of sustainable technology in hotels. Modular hotel buildouts can save construction waste and shorten build times, but developers can rarely afford the investment in sustainability practices that exceed code requirements. I see this daily in my career. The benefits are more long-term and if developers are not holding onto the asset long-term, they will not really see an ROI on LEED certifications, etc. CRMs can be used to track guests' digital breadcrumbs and build guest preferences in its database. Building data collection systems into the infrastructure of the hotel will give owners an overall view of where it can improve its sustainability practices.