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Courtyard by Marriott and Grappone Conference Center in Concord N.H. Join EPA WasteWise Program

Release Date: 07/28/2011
Contact Information: David Deegan, (617) 918-1017

(Boston, Mass. – July 28, 2011) –The Courtyard by Marriott & Grappone Conference Center recently joined EPA’s WasteWise program, becoming the first active WasteWise hospitality partner in NH.

WasteWise partners are organizations that voluntarily set goals to reduce municipal solid waste. WasteWise works with hotels and other organizations to achieve cost savings, improve efficiency and reduce their climate footprint through waste reduction.
“We are happy to welcome Courtyard by Marriott and Grappone Conference Center of Concord to the WasteWise program,” said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office. “They are setting a good example for other hospitality businesses, because they are likely to see a positive economic return on doing the right thing for our environment.”

EPA’s WasteWise program provides a free online reporting system called Re-TRAC which allows hotels and other partners to track waste generation and reduction activities, generate customized reports, and calculate their greenhouse gas emission reductions and their environmental impacts. Trish Taylor from the Marriott and Grappone Center said, “We were surprised and delighted with the results. If you have a good idea of what is being thrown in your trash/recycling dumpsters, then completing the audit is fairly easy.”

Michelle R. Veasey of NH Sustainable Lodging & Restaurant Program a WasteWise Endorser said “The team at the Courtyard by Marriott/Grappone Conference Center continually work to reduce their environmental impact. Their dedication and willingness to help others in the industry continues to compel sustainability efforts in New Hampshire hospitality. I hope their experience with WasteWise will encourage others in New Hampshire to get involved. It’s a great program and helps businesses to evaluate their waste reduction efforts from a financial, as well as environmental perspective.”

The Courtyard by Marriott & Grappone Conference Center in Concord NH also joined the WasteWise’s Food Recovery Challenge that encourages participants to reduce, donate, and recycle as much of their food waste as possible--saving money and helping protect the environment. Participants conduct a food waste assessment, undertake three specific waste reduction activities, create a food waste recovery plan, and report progress using WasteWise Re-TRAC.

WasteWise is a voluntary partnership program launched by EPA in 1994 with more than 3000 partners. WasteWise partners not only reduce waste, but also are addressing global climate change. By decreasing the demand on raw materials through waste reduction and recycling, these organizations are improving operations, reducing costs, and minimizing their environmental footprints.

More Information:
- EPA’s WasteWise program (www.epa.gov/wastewise)
- Food Recovery Challenge (www.epa.gov/foodrecoverychallenge)
- NH Sustainable Lodging and Restaurant: www.nhslrp.org/

Learn More about the Latest EPA News & Events in New England (www.epa.gov/region1/newsevents/index.html)
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