40th Anniversary of Earth Day... Green Seal Certified Hotels From Coast to Coast

WASHINGTON, April 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Green Seal Inc., is the "Seal of Approval" when it comes to locating green lodging across the country.  From the Westin Times Square to San Francisco's Argonaut, 85 hotels in 20 states have been certified by Green Seal, a 20-year-old nonprofit that certifies hotels as green after a rigorous reporting and inspection program.

Hotel guests can be assured that when a Green Seal-certified hotel is booked; environmental practices are in full operation. Certified hotels are required to minimize waste, reuse & recycle; be energy and water efficient; reduce or eliminate any hazardous substances and establish an environmentally sensitive purchasing policy.

Hotels certified under Green Seal's Lodging Standard reduce their carbon footprint.  New research indicated a key finding: greenhouse gas (GHG) savings from a single certified hotel are equivalent to the annual GHG emissions of 73 passenger vehicles or the CO2 emissions from the energy use of 35 homes for one year(1).

"Green Seal certified lodging is expanding hotel-by-hotel and chain-by-chain," said Dr. Arthur Weissman, President and CEO.  "We are encouraged that both the Kimpton Hotels and Great Wolf Resorts have recognized the value of chain-wide green certification.  Kimpton, a lifestyle boutique hotel company, is aggressively moving forward to attain 100 percent Green Seal certification this spring and Great Wolf Resorts, North America's largest family indoor waterpark resorts, was the first to have all U.S. properties Green Seal certified in the spring of 2009."

As we celebrate Earth Day 2010, it's the results that count: results of sustainability and cost savings.  As an example, three of Kimpton's Chicago properties—Hotel Monaco, Hotel Burnham and Hotel Allegro—diverted about 116 tons of recyclables from landfills last year, or about 45 percent of such waste after green certification.  And after implementing a variety of energy-saving and waste-reduction initiatives, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, Los Angeles' largest hotel, estimated $225,000 in savings per year.

Discover a truly green hotel on the Green Seal Web site http://www.greenseal.org/findaproduct/lodging_properties.cfm

Green Seal, Inc. is a non-profit organization that uses science-based standards and certification to help shoppers, travelers and companies identify what is truly green.

NOTES:

(1) The research followed ISO 14044 and was peer-reviewed. The complete study is available from Green Seal upon request.

SOURCE Green Seal, Inc.