- Mike Beirne

Wyndham Hotels and Resorts is turning "green" by going plastic—and not the type associated with credit cards.

Starting this fall, front desk employees and other staffers who interact with guests at select locations will start to wear uniforms made with polyester fibers spun from plastic beverage bottles. All such employees chainwide will be required to wear the new uniforms by the end of 2009. Housekeeping and back-of-house workers will be donning the new duds by 2010. The apparel, which does not require professional laundering or chemicals to clean, is designed and manufactured by Cintas, Cincinnati.

"As part of our quest to find new and innovative green practices, we challenged Cintas to design a program that reflected our three Wyndham brand-defining pillars of innovation, personalization and flexibility," Faith Taylor, vp of sustainability and innovation at Wyndham Worldwide, Parsippany, N.J., said in a statement. "Cintas answered the call by selecting trendy, eco-conscious garments that are machine washable, easily modified and mixed-and-matched for a more personal look. The end result is fashionable suit that is cost-effective and extremely comfortable."

The material is made from recycled plastic products, including beverage bottles, which are processed into flakes, then into filaments, which are spun into yarn that is woven into these soft fabrics. The uniform program will join other green initiatives that are becoming common in the hospitality sector like the use of compact fluorescent lights, low-flow water practices, and giving guests the option to reuse linen and towels rather than changing those items during each day of a stay.

Wyndham incorporates several ecologically-friendly initiatives, including use of energy-efficient compact fluorescent lighting, low-flow water practices and an "Earth Smart" guest linen reuse program.

Wyndham also offers Wyndham ClearAir, a program launched last month that features rooms that are 98% allergen-free thanks to a cleaning regimen and an air purification system designed by Pure Solution, New York. Wyndham properties will be required to convert 10% of room inventory into ClearAir rooms by the end of 2009.

A recent survey of 1,155 business travelers by Deloitte, New York, found that 34% seek out environmentally friendly hotels and would pay a 10% premium to stay in one. Wyndham is not alone in fast-tracking the green movement in the hospitality sector. Fairmont and Kimpton use eco-friendly cleaning supplies. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide is opening its first Element brand in Lexington, Mass. The building is LEED Certified, meaning it was built to the specification approved by the U.S. Green Building Council. Twenty more LEED-Certified properties will open during 2009. Findings about green practices from those operations will be passed on to the Westin, Sheraton and the W Hotel sister brands.