Green Concierge participants come together at Hunter Mountain-Part 1

Catskill Lodging owners in the Green Concierge program showing off their Welcome to the Watershed certificates at Hunter Mountain's Kaatskill Mountain Club Hotel

The Green Concierge lodging operators truly are ambassadors of the Catskill Watershed and were recognized for it by Catskill Watershed Corporation's Diane Galusha.In photo, back row, left to right: Jay Frischman of Alport Plumbing Supply, Rick Remsyder of Ulster County Tourism, Kurt Goettsche & Eric Goettsche of Thompson House, Ron Landstrom of Point Lookout Mountain Inn, Kevin Kraft of Lifebridge Sanctuary, Denise Owens of Frost Valley YMCA, Mary O'Connor of Jimmy O'Connor's Mountain Inn, Sara Loughlin of Phonecia Lodge & Cabins, Katy Bray of Skylake Lodge, Sam Scoggins of Stone House B&B, Rick Rasmussen of Hotel Vienna, Evadne Giannini of Hospitality Green, Ruth Christman of Christman's Windham Inn & Golf Resort, Warren Hart ofGreene County Tourism. Front row, left to right: Cara Danzig of Kaatskill Mountain Club, Carol Molnar and Peter Molnar of Margaretville Motel and Margaretville Mountain Inn, Kelly Coughlin of Rosehaven Inn, Stefania Jozic of Washington Irving Inn and Diane Galusha of Catskill Watershed Corporation.

We accomplished a lot in our 2 hour meeting at Hunter, thanks to the support and staff at Kaatskill Mountain Club, and to all who came to engage in the discussion. We focused on cleaning products and environmentally preferable purchasing in the first half of the meeting, and the second half on the phase 1 certification commitment and marketing the Green Concierge properties. This posting is organized to provide the purchasing info that was shared in the meeting. A follow up post will address the second half of the meeting.

Certified "Green" Cleaning products-how to find options locally?

Pictured left to right are Simple Green Naturals, Ace Brand Concentrated Peroxide Cleaner, the same cleaner diluted and ready to use in a 32 oz re-fillable spray bottle, and the Johnson Diversey Concentrated all purpose cleaner. (Not pictured is the Clorox Greenworks product, which have recently been GS certified) If you are a smaller facility, it makes more sense to go with a ready to use or a concentrated cleaner you can dilute easily with basic materials, like the small measuring cup pictured. Concentrated cleaners are where you can save $$ though, as the product is diluted with either 32 or 64 parts water! Currently the Ace Cleaner sells for $19 at Ace Hardware Stores, and one container of concentrate makes 64 refillable spray bottles! Simple Green Naturals and Clorox Greenworks are available at Lowe's in Kingston. Johnson Diversey (JD) products are an economical choice for larger properties who go through

alot of chemical, as they are also diluted with 32 or 64 parts water. For Technical Assistance with the JD cleaners, contact Diana Dissen: Customer Support Diversey, Inc. diana.dissen@diversey.com, 1-800-558-2332 ext 5. The products can be found through hill & markes distribution network, by contacting our hill & markes representative Diane Tangredi: dtangredi@hillnmarkes.com.

So, how can you tell if a product on a shelf is Green Seal Certified?

At right you can see a close up of the labels on the 2 products mentioned earlier. If you don't see the Green Seal logo on the label, the product hasn't been certified by Green Seal. Similarly, in the green folders which were handed out at the meeting, there is a page showing common symbols for all kinds of products, to help you identify ones which have been certified by a legitimate agency. We will soon be posting these handouts on the Green Concierge website. Also, GreenSeal's website can aid in determining if a product you've bought is in fact GS-37 certified. Click "find the Green Seal" to search for products. If you see it listed, its Green Seal certified!

Recycling results quadrupled for Hotel Vienna after they placed the small blue Busch recycling bins in their guest rooms. We find most people will comply if recycling bins are accessible and visible. We recommend consistency by placing a clearly marked recycling container to the left of a trash container, so recycling becomes second nature to guests and staff alike! As a participant in the Green Concierge program, Busch bins can be ordered by filling in the order form available on the http://the-green-concierge.com website. Log on to your page and click on "Participating Businesses." To order Busch bins of any size, visit www.buschsystems.com or email busch@buschsystems.com

Non toxic mattresses were located for and tested by Lifebridge Sanctuary, who was happy to report the new chemical free mattresses they purchased from Keetsa have been great. Kevin and Barbara worked a nice deal with Keetsa, who gave them a discount as they were purchasing 10+mattresses. You can visit Keetsa's website here or call the NYC store and speak with Stephen Andrieux, 212-343-0333, steve@keetsa.com. Keetsa's store is located at 69 Mercer St. ground floor, NY, NY 10012. And, Lifebridge was able to donate their old futon mattresses to the local social services agency, listed in their Soft Goods Fact Sheet!

Insulating old buildings = heating cost savings Phonecia Lodge reported that insulating their 1930's &40's-era buildings resulted in dramatic savings on their heating bills. They were able to finance this undertaking with low interest loan incentives offered by NYSERDA and Ulster Savings Bank, which they saw immediate payback for when cold weather arrived. We realize state and federal funding for such projects has diminished since then, and will do our best to alert you to new incentives for your energy upgrades. Its good to establish a relationship with NYSERDA, as some of you already have, in the form of an energy audit. This can help initiate the process of energy upgrades specific to your facility. Contact NYSERDA regarding an audit by visiting here

Assistance was asked for in locating environmentally preferable products (EPP) for laundry detergent, ice melter and trash bags. The next time you're out shopping, see what your local store offers for "green" or "environmentally friendly" products. Make a note of the brand name. The EcoLogo website is a fabulous user friendly site that allows one to search for all kinds of product by type and brand name. If you see a product listed there from your local store, its a match! We will continue to locate local sources for reputable products, and will do our best to alert you to them.

Part Two, Marketing to follow in next post...