Thanks to their ongoing participation in The Green Concierge© project this Spring, lodging establishments in the Catskills Watershed Region have kept over four thousand pounds of soft goods out of local landfills.
The hospitality industry routinely disposes of gently used bedding and towels so that customers can rest assured knowing that the soft goods they are using are clean. This year, customers should be happy to hear that Catskill Watershed lodging facilities are “Going Green.” Instead of throwing away these soft goods, many facilities throughout the five counties are donating them to charity by participating in the Green Concierge Project, a Catskills eco-tourism initiative.
Due to an overwhelmingly positive response to The Green Concierge Project’s free door-to-door soft goods collection program, HospitalityGreen LLC has decided to extend the deadline for soft goods pickup until the end of June. HospitalityGreen’s staff has been introducing the Green Concierge project since the first week of May to participating facilities while collecting materials for donation.
Thus far, over 4,000 pounds of soft goods have been collected for donation, with over half the total weight coming from facilities in Ulster County. Soft goods project coordinator and Manager of HospitalityGreen, Leo Pucklis, has been in charge of collecting, weighing and donating the soft goods. “With just the donations from the Kingston Holiday Inn, Sparrow Hawk Affaires in Stone Ridge and Catskill Maison in Windham, Greene County we have had to make seven trips. It’s amazing how much stuff we have helped to divert from the landfill.” All materials have been weighed and donations recorded prior to delivering the donations to the local animal shelters, homeless shelters and textile recyclers.
The Green Concierge project is an exciting new economic development initiative proudly sponsored by and funded through grants from the Empire State Development (ESD) and the Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC). Over the next three years, approximately 150 tourism and lodging facilities in the Catskill watershed region will receive free one-on-one technical assistance to improve their operational economic and environmental sustainability practices through pollution prevention, resource conservation, recycling and toxic chemical reduction. In addition to technical assistance, some facilities involved in the Green Concierge project will participate in a green certification program that will document and verify their sustainable improvements. For facilities participating in the certification process, a facility baseline assessment and a customized facility improvement plan will be developed. HospitalityGreen LLC, a Sullivan County environmental consulting firm, developed and is spearheading the Green Concierge project.
Facilities eligible to participate in this project include hotels, inns, bed and breakfasts, campgrounds and rental condominiums located in the Catskill watershed of Delaware, Greene, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster counties. Throughout the month of June, eligible facilities can schedule a pick up by email at go.green@hospitalitygreen.com or call Leo Pucklis at 845.436.6173 ext.2.
About Green Concierge’s sponsors and funding:
The ESD is responsible for retaining and creating jobs, and generating billions of dollars for local New York State economies. In addition, the ESD encourages economic investment and prosperity by providing knowledgeable and professional level assistance and service to businesses throughout New York State.
The CWC is a local development corporation established in 1997 whose dual mission is to protect the water resources of the New York City (NYC) Catskill-Delaware Watershed west of the Hudson River, and to preserve and assist the communities within this living Watershed. Covering portions of Ulster, Greene, Delaware, Sullivan and Schoharie Counties, CWC’s economic development programs support environmentally responsible businesses to create and retain jobs in the Catskills.
New York State’s Empire State Development (ESD) and the Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC) are proud sponsors of the Green Concierge project.
For more information on HospitalityGreen and the Green Concierge project visit www.hospitalitygreen.com or call (845) 436-6173.
CONTACT
Evadne Giannini, Principal
HospitalityGreen
P.O. Box 222, 35 Main Street
Mountaindale, NY 12763
Tel: (845) 436-6173
Email: go.green@hospitalitygreen.com
Website: www.hospitalitygreen.com
Pictured: Leo Pucklis Manager of HospitalityGreen LLC and Associate Emily Anna Mason
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