Categories include promoting environmental awareness through new employee training and workshops, ….waste reduction, energy and water efficiency and air quality as well as green 
cleaning and housekeeping practices which include optional linen service – who really needs their sheets changed every day? Similar programs in Virginia Beach, Va., and Ocean City, Md., have been embraced by merchants and tourists alike.
The local tourism and hospitality industries have a vested interest in conservation of natural resources. Aside from the money hotels, restaurants and attractions can save reducing, reusing and recycling, preserving the environmental quality of our area preserves tourism itself. The South Carolina Green Alliance, a partnership between the South Carolina Hospitality Association and the state DHEC, is devoted to helping state lodgings, attractions and eateries go green. The program made its debut last year, and although only a handful of local business are listed on the Web site (greenalliance.com), Tom Sponseller, president of the state hospitality association, says that more are coming. “We have another 30 or so restaurants and hotels that will be added. We’ve only been doing this a short time, and the whole process from implementing changes to filling out the application to it being approved through DHEC can be a bit lengthy.”
Part of the process is working with local businesses to implement changes to reduce the large scale impacts the hospitality industry has on the environment. Businesses in the hospitality industry, as well as their suppliers, can go to schospitality.org for an application listing nine categories in which points can be earned. Depending on how many points earned, a Palmetto tree is awarded, with one Palmetto indicating a business has adopted and is beginning to implement a green plan, to three Palmettos, which indicates a high level of eco-initiatives have been adopted and utilized.
While only a small number of local businesses have made it through Green Alliance certification, that doesn’t mean our local hospitality industry isn’t taking the steps necessary to become more eco-friendly. The Myrtle Beach Area Hospitality Association (MBAHA) is working with the state program, and encourages its members to take those important first steps in going green. “Our industry wants to get more involved, and it’s a question of figuring out how to do that,” says Stephen Greene, president of the MBHA. “As a group, we’ve been moving forward, but it takes a lot of time and training,” In cooperation with efforts of the state and local hospitality associations, the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce has encouraged its members to go green. As part of its Going Green program, the Chamber works to provide education, resources and support to its members in implementing energy conservation and waste reduction practices.
Read more: http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/09/09/1681777/oily-residue.html#ixzz0zbrCTJX5
