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Earth-friendly business choices are trending in hospitality industry

Embassy Suites in St. Augustine Beach is trying to walk that fine line by making moves that are friendly to the environment and pleasing to its customers.

ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH, Florida — When a company chooses to "go green," often times it means spending some cash to be environmentally friendly.

But does it have to?

There is a growing interest in the hospitality industry to be earth-friendly, and experts say businesses can stay financially afloat and even make money while doing it.

Embassy Suites in St. Augustine Beach is trying to walk that fine line by making moves that are friendly to the environment and pleasing to its customers. 

"So there are a couple things we’ve really been working on here," General Manager Jason Kern said. 

He explained the hotel is using all LED lighting and is also implementing recycling programs on the property, as well as through a program called Clean the World.

"We recycle all our soap, shampoo, and conditioners in our guests' rooms," Kern said. "We deliver them to the group and they reuse the bottles, break the packaging down, make fresh soaps and shampoos and [then] send them around the world for hygiene packages for communities that need [them]."  

Solutions like those mentioned by Kern were discussed at a conference in St. Augustine Beach Friday. 

It targeted environmental programs for the hospitality and tourism industry, which are the largest industries in St. Johns County.

"Florida is right up there with California, New York, and Las Vegas as well," Andrea Ruiz-Hays with Recycle Across America said. "The capital areas where tourism is high, we definitely see those requests coming in." 

Ruiz-Hays helps the hospitality industry with its environmental questions. She has experience in recycling on a large scale because she used to work for Disney World, helping its hotels and theme parks recycle correctly.

She showed employees what they should be doing with all the items that get disposed of or reused and recycled.

Ryan Murphy, who runs the St. Augustine Amphitheater said it’s important to not pass on the costs of going green to the customer. 

He helped install earth-friendly programs at The Amp such as the reusable r-cup for drinks. 

"We did not pass on the cost to the consumer," Murphy said. "It’s $3 to rent the cup and at the end of the night, we try to make it as convenient as possible for you to return the cup and get your $3 back." 

He said it has cut down on trash dramatically, which ultimately cuts the price of trash hauling. 

Each company has to pick what works best for its business.

At Embassy Suites, there are frozen drinks at the bar by the pool. The hotel was using paper straws, but the paper straws weren’t disintegrating. So management is testing out alternatives such as straws which are compostable.

In the end, General Manager Kern said some earth-friendly business decisions have saved the company money, and other choices have cost money.

 However, he says it’s worth it when looking at the beach in the hotel’s backyard. Nodding to the beach, he said he doesn't want to mess that up. 

"That’s our bread and butter," Kern said.

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