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. Pineapple Hospitality® and Midas Consulting Identify Eight Red Flags For Hotel Operators to Improve Environmental Practices and Reduce Waste Management Expense St. Charles, MO � June 20, 2006 � Waste management is entrenched as the least exciting aspect of the Lodging industry. Aside from the obvious unpleasantness, waste disposal is a comparatively small expense on the income statement. Even so, the nascent Green Lodging movement has taken trash and recycling from the loading dock and parking lot into the executive office as the movement quickly establishes itself as a viable way to control costs, enhance guest satisfaction and improve occupancy. While the economic benefits of �going Green� are straightforward, the difficulty in executing an environmental initiative sometimes boils down to the fact that it can be time consuming. �There are many resources advising hotel operators what to do, but few resources who can actually step in and does it, saving managers time and money by helping them avoid missteps along the way,� says Ray Burger, President of St. Charles, Missouri-based Pineapple Hospitality, Inc. To help hotel operators evaluate and implement environmental best practices related to waste management and recycling, Pineapple and Midas Management Consulting LLC have formed an alliance where Pineapple is marketing Midas� services in the lodging industry. �We are very pleased to be working with Midas. Our strategic partnership will benefit our lodging customers by reducing operating costs while saving Engineering staff time� says Burger. �Waste carries with it a classic vicious circle that has most Lodging firms unintentionally limiting their profits,� explains Tim Johnson, President of the Madison, Wisconsin-based Midas. �In the past, many senior executives have viewed waste and recycling virtually as an afterthought because it�s a comparatively small expense. Today, they understand the economics, but are troubled by information overload and time constraints. Meanwhile, on the front lines, Engineering and Housekeeping staff is tremendously busy every single day and have difficulty adding this topic to their plate, even when waste and recycling is on management�s priority list. Consequently, this low hanging fruit is often ignored or aborted after false starts� Midas� solid waste audits are contingency fee-based, with a no savings, no fee guarantee. �Our model is to roll up our sleeves and extensively evaluate all waste and recycling services for an operator on a property by property basis, and then customize solutions that result in streamlined and efficient operations, as well as reduced expenses for the long term,� says Johnson. Midas� cost reduction record of accomplishment is a 37% average savings for clients. Most of Midas� work is done remotely, requiring copies of invoices and hauler agreements along with a letter of authorization to make the trash and recycling vendors comfortable in sharing client data with Midas. �We do 95% of the work and ask very little of the client,� explains Johnson. Bob Clement, President and Chief Operating Officer of Park Lodge Hotel Group of Waltham, Massachusetts agrees, �We did it pretty much all by e-mail and fax. Midas asked us for some digital pictures and occupancy data. He also asked that Engineering complete a simple worksheet. Midas also kept us updated along the way and is providing guidance on managing staff through the changes.� Park Lodge had Midas conduct a waste audit shortly after bidding out their waste disposal service. Clement, �We look at waste annually and sign 3 year agreements. The timing seemed odd, in that we had just wrapped up competitive bids, but Park Lodge has Green Lodging goals and I was attracted to Midas� no savings, no fees approach. Any skepticism I might have had, disappeared when I reviewed the savings recommendations for our properties. The first stage of the project dropped our costs about 20% below what we had just negotiated ourselves and Midas obtained cardboard recycling service for us at no cost. Within the next three years, we will come to realize savings in the 40% range. Working with Midas made this project as easy to implement as it was to cost justify.� Johnson says the Park Lodge project was a challenge for Midas. �You can�t see inside a compactor,� tells Johnson, �and Park Lodge has two properties that share one. To make things more difficult, the compactor is a small one, serviced by a front-load garbage truck, so we did not have any weight data to work with. Even so, we were able to accurately calculate the actual waste volumes inside the compactor.� To help managers evaluate the benefits of a waste audit, Johnson identifies and comments on some red flags that will help managers stay on top of their waste disposal costs. Eight Red Flags Hotel
Operators Need To Be Aware Of
1. Automatic Renewal Language in Your ContractAbout Pineapple Hospitality®, Inc Headquartered in Saint Charles, Missouri, Pineapple Hospitality® is an EPA Energy StarTM partner bringing fresh ideas to hospitality guests� doors and owner/operators� bottom lines � including FreshStay®, Environmentally Sensitive Amenities, the greenSPA luxury amenity and dispenser system, GE energy efficient lighting, Guestat programmable thermostats, Oxygenic water-efficient showerheads, the Nature�s Mist deodorization system, and dozens of other products and programs. To get a taste of Pineapple�s sweet solutions helping hundreds of hotels bolster business and cut costs, please visit www.pineapplehospitality.net, or call Ray Burger at 636-922-2285. About Midas Management Consulting LLC
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