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ONE MAN ’ S TRASH …
One of the most successful creative repurposing campaigns has been Hilton ’ s soap recycling program , launched a decade ago . It ’ s part of the company ’ s goal of halving its environmental impact by 2030 . In 2019 Hilton collected enough leftover soap to be sterilized and recycled into 2 million new bars of soap for communities in need . By next year , soap recycling will be a standard across the majority of Hilton brands , and most of its hotel rooms will have transitioned from single-use toiletries to dispensers , a move that Marriott International and IHG also have followed .
Upcycling or repurposing food is a dicey matter , given food safety concerns and local health codes , but some hotels have found a formula that works . MGM Resorts in Las Vegas donates unserved food left over from events to a local food bank . How it works : A food bank team shows up as an event is breaking down , measures the food , transfers it to disposable pans , quickly transports it and stores it in a blast chiller , then freezes it . Foods are then entered into an online inventory that nonprofits can tap into .
Scandic Hotels formed a digital partnership with Karma and Too Good To Go to sell meals assembled from buffet leftovers . The meals are promoted on apps for 50 % of what they would typically cost , and the deals have been an instant hit .
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MGM Resorts in Las Vegas donates food left over from events to a local food bank . The food is measured , then transported , frozen and entered into an online inventory that nonprofits can tap into .
MAKE SUSTAINABLE EVENTS WORK
Here ’ s what Brittany Price , MGM Resorts ’ director of sustainable operations , has
learned about producing sustainable conventions and trade shows : Plan ahead : Trade show exhibitors often leave behind products like furniture that need to go … somewhere when the show ends . ( One client hauled in a whole barn .) Rather than sending them to the dump , MGM ’ s resorts can place these items with local nonprofits , provided they have some advance notice . Suddenly needing to find a new home for hundreds of chairs , on the other hand , is not ideal , so knowing what to expect is key . Know your compostables : “ One group needed disposables but wanted them to be compostable , so we found some BPI-certified plastic products that were supposed to be compostable ,” Price says . “ But not all compostable products will break down in a desert environment . Just because something says it ’ s compostable doesn ’ t mean it will break down the way you would expect .”
Be a resource for groups : MGM offers meeting planners a deck of cards with 52 sustainable event ideas that could apply to any location . It helps meeting planners and their clients decide exactly how green they want their event to be .
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