by Zohreen Ismail
Sustainability Practices from The Ranch
Co-Founder & CEO
Alex Glasscock
From celebrating its bounty with a seasonal menu, to marveling in its splendor each morning on daily hikes, The Ranch’s Co-Founder and CEO Alex Glasscock’s commitment to the earth can be seen throughout the program. The Ranch, located in Malibu, aims to create a safe place to allow guests to experience personal awareness. Dedicated to preserving and protecting the planet, Alex incorporates sustainable practices into his company at every opportunity. The Ranch’s exclusively plant-based menu has a profound impact on the environment, requiring less land, water and energy to produce. Furthermore, The Ranch has an onsite, certified organic garden that provides the majority of the food used at The Ranch and a system of bee colonies on property that produce around 500 pounds of honey each year. Alex is constantly reviewing The Ranch’s methods and programing to improve their sustainability practices and be at the forefront of sustainability in the hospitality sphere. He also emphasizes the importance of educating guests at The Ranch and in the surrounding community on the environmental impact of their choices and ways they can support the planet in their daily lives.
Sustainability Practices
from Margaritaville Brand Concept Chef
Carlo Sernaglia
Since the song “Margaritaville” made its debut over 40 years ago, its namesake has become a global lifestyle brand. The company actively works on behalf of several ecological and social causes, with a recent concerted effort focused on one in particular – reducing the population of invasive lionfish.
In 2014, as the Margaritaville team prepared to open its flagship property, Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort, the brand’s concept chef, Carlo Sernaglia, developed an all-new casual-luxe restaurant concept, JWB Prime Steak and Seafood. A central component of JWB is its fresh spear-caught fishing program. Working with a dedicated team of local fisherman across South Florida, JWB serves up a fresh spear-caught fish nightly. Lionfish is most frequently served and one of the most popular due to the fact it assists in protecting our fragile ecosystems. If you’re not near JWB, you can pull a lionfish recipe from Margaritaville: The Cookbook, which Chef Carlo authored.
Chef Carlo is instrumental in driving Margaritaville’s lionfish efforts. In 2017, he finished second in the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Lionfish Challenge, spearing nearly 2,500 lionfish within a two-month period.
Sustainability Practices from Canopy by Hilton
Global Head
Gary Steffen
Since the launch of Canopy by Hilton in October 2014, the brand’s commitment to sustainability and the environment has been part of Canopy by Hilton’s DNA. The Canopy by Hilton brand was created following years of research and surveying over 9,000 travelers to fill a void in the lifestyle space. Listening to traveler’s wants – including finding ways to incorporate sustainability through filtered water stations and delivering “Break Fast” options in recycled brown bags, Canopy by Hilton has been able to bring sustainability to life while also matching traveler’s aspirations. Additionally, Canopy by Hilton makes an effort to find like-minded sustainable partners, such as TradeCraft, who provide locally sourced coffee and tea; Planet Dog, its Paws in the Neighborhood partner and a member of the pet sustainability coalition that enhance dogs lives; Apivita, the Greek sustainable bath amenities business; and Serta, the makers of mattresses crafted from post-industrial recycled steel and wood. All these partners align with the brand’s fresh approach to lifestyle hotel offerings which makes a clear difference.
The brand also follows Hilton’s initiatives such as “Lightstay,” a proprietary corporate responsibility performance measurement platform which has been recognized for its innovative approach to reducing its environmental impact, and Clean the World soap recycling initiative that has already collected more than one million pounds of partially-used soap, which have been recycled into more than four million new bars of soap, are major aspects to our environmentally responsible practices as well.
