Accommodations (Stay Green)

As soon as you step off a plane at Miami International Airport you will see signs letting you know about water conservation efforts in Miami’s hotels. The Greater Miami & the Beaches Hotel Association has worked closely with the Miami-Dade Office of Sustainability to promote Miami-Dade’s Green Lodging & Restaurant Program. The program aims to provide water fixtures that will lower consumption at hotels and restaurants, as well as to inform hotels and their guests about the benefits of choosing to reuse towels and bed linens rather than laundering them every day. Miami’s hotel rooms now have cards that guests can use to indicate that they would like to reuse these items during the course of their stay.

At the state level, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Florida Green Lodging Program encourages Florida’s hotels to become sustainable while lowering operating costs. In order to receive a Green Lodging designation, properties must implement environmental practices in six areas: communication and education; waste reduction; reuse and recycling; water conservation; energy efficiency; indoor air quality; and transportation. Some examples of how hotels have fulfilled these goals include providing suggestion boxes for guests’ input, installing digital thermostats and even offering preferred parking spaces for hybrid cars.

Many hotels in Greater Miami have already been designated as Florida Green Lodging Certified. These properties are indicated with the green house icon (above left) in their listings on the GMCVB website and print publications. Many other Environmentally Friendly properties also have implemented sustainable practices. These hotels are indicated with the green leaf icon (above right).

Convention Centers (Convene Green)

The one-million-square-foot Miami Beach Convention Center (MBCC) is the meeting venue for Greater Miami’s largest conventions. As such, its operations have a heavy environmental impact, which presents a great opportunity to implement green initiatives. Recognizing this, in 2009 the MBCC’s management company, Global Spectrum, has developed the Global Spectrum Total Environmental Program (STEP UP).

Steps they have already taken include a complete lighting retrofit with the replacement of 9,000 fluorescent light bulbs; restroom upgrades to include efficient light and water fixtures; a single-stream recycling program; and a switch to green cleaning products.

After the show is over, Global Spectrum works with show organizers and their exhibitors to ensure that all unused materials that would otherwise be discarded are donated to the Education Fund. This nonprofit organization directs resources to Miami-Dade Public Schools.

The Miami Convention Center has also implemented a recycling program for unused materials. All food and beverage services are provided by the adjacent Hyatt Regency Miami, which has its own recycling program.

Volunteer While You’re Here

If your group would like to take part in a service project while in Miami, the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau’s Convention Services Department will be happy to refer you to local non-profit organizations. The department has helped groups connect with a wide range of local charities, including arranging for donations to the Haiti earthquake relief effort through the GMCVB’s Miami Tourism 4 Haiti program.

To learn about more environmentally friendly initiatives that the GMCVB and our partners have implemented, click here.