by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
“Half of Florida’s 83 million visitors each year stay in hotels and that represents a tremendous opportunity to recycle,” said Hyatt General Manager Dan King Friday at a ceremony to recognize the hotel’s designation as a participant in the “Florida Green Lodging” program.
“Since July, we have already diverted 50 tons of refuse that would have gone to landfills,” he added.
The “Florida Green Lodging” initiative is a statewide effort to protect the environment and achieve a reduction in the use of resources, said Bill Green, assistant director of the Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection who presented the hotel and its “Green Team” a plaque that recognizes the Hyatt’s commitment to conservation and preservation.
The combination of using environmentally-friendly cleaning products, installing high-efficiency lighting and low-flow plumbing fixtures, recycling glass, aluminum and paper and even offering guests the option to use bed and bath linens for a second day saves resources for the state and money for the hotels.
“Florida’s hotels use 55 million gallons of water each day,” said Green. “Four percent of the state’s waste is generated by hotels and 60 percent of it can be recycled.
“If just a quarter of the guests used their sheets and towels for two days, it would save the hotel industry $20 billion a year.”
The voluntary program was launched in March 2004 and has become successful in a short time, he added.
“As of today, we have 52 hotels designed as ‘Green Lodging’ and there are more than 200 applications being processed in Tallahassee. This initiative will help preserve the environment for generations to come,” said Green.