Downtown’s newest urban garden went into the ground Monday at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront.
Members of the hotel’s catering, sales, reservations, stewarding, purchasing, banquet, front office, housekeeping, kitchen and human resources departments assembled on the hotel’s rooftop above the fourth floor and then planted a selection of herbs and two varieties of peppers.
As the seeds sprout and the plants grow, the hotelier-gardeners will water and weed the planter boxes, which were constructed by the Hyatt’s engineering department. In a few months, the herbs and peppers grown in the garden will be used in the hotel’s restaurants and catering operation.
The planting party was a way to begin the hotel Green Team’s annual Earth Day observance, said Dan King, general manager. It’s one part of Hyatt’s brandwide effort to protect the environment and adopt eco-friendly sustainable practices.
Growing some of the food served in the hotel about 60 feet from the kitchen — albeit straight up from the kitchen — maintains one of the hotel brand’s initiatives to reduce its carbon footprint by using locally sourced foods.
“One of our goals is to be sustainable and mindful of where we get our food,” said Catering Manager Julie Jacob.
Other environmental programs at Hyatt properties include packaging shampoo and lotion in bottles made of recycled plastic and using detergents in the hotels’ laundries that reduce energy and water use.
Downtown’s Hyatt is recognized by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Lodging program for the hotel’s efforts to preserve and protect the state’s natural resources.
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