A&P2 for the Hospitality Industry - EPA Region 2

EPA offers several P2 partnership programs that are applicable to the hospitality industry. Some programs, such as WaterSense and ENERGY STAR®, help consumers—including hospitality facilities—identify water- and energy-efficient products and services. Hospitality facilities in EPA Region 2 are already taking advantage of EPA’s partnership programs, including WasteWise, a free program through which organizations eliminate municipal solid waste, benefiting their bottom line and the environment. As of January 2008, three hospitality facilities in Puerto Rico were listed as WasteWise partners.

Also applicable to the hospitality industry, EPA developed a Green Meetings/Conference Initiative to provide green options and opportunities for meeting planning. The initiative’s Web site is a central resource for meeting planners and service providers, offering a step-by-step process for planning the “greenest” event possible.

EPA Region 2 is initiating partnerships to advance P2 in the hospitality industry. One partnership with academia, local government, and industry will explore P2 opportunities in hospitality facilities in upstate New York. Another government and industry partnership will focus on enhancing the green tourism infrastructure in Puerto Rico. In addition, EPA Region 2 is working with NEWMOA in a regional effort to provide materials and information about P2 efforts in the hospitality sector throughout the Northeast.

Purdue University, under a cooperative agreement with EPA, has developed software to enable the hospitality sector to assess and reduce environmental impacts specific to the industry. Purdue’s “Software for Environmental Awareness (SEA): Environmental Enrichment for the Lodging Industry” is available on EPA’s SEA Web site and is available in English and Spanish.