Taking on the EcoChallenge: Innovation at DoubleTree
By Sally Schoeller, DoubleTree by Hilton Portland
Sally Schoeller is president of the Green Team for the DoubleTree by Hilton Portland. She can be reached at sschoeller@portlanddoubletree.com.
The DoubleTree by Hilton Portland is committed to sustainable practices as a way of doing business. We focus on innovation and continued improvement to assure we meet the highest expectations when it comes to sustainable practices. Over the last eight years, this commitment has resulted in significant improvements to the DoubleTree’s environmental and financial performance.
As the president of the Green Team at the DoubleTree, I have a role, along with my team members, in challenging the hotel to meet sustainability goals and creating opportunities to advance eco-friendly practices. This means coming up with innovative ideas that increase our impact and leveraging our leadership to help drive corporate sustainability at the top.
When I learned about Northwest Earth Institute’s EcoChallenge, we were in the process of installing lower wattage, energy-saving light bulbs in the five-story DoubleTree parking garage. With this project complete, we were ready take to on a new endeavor, and the EcoChallenge could not have come at a better time.
The EcoChallenge event challenges businesses and community members to try bold, new sustainability practices over the course of two weeks and — if it goes well — adopt a new habit by the time the event is over. We saw the EcoChallenge as the perfect opportunity to take DoubleTree’s sustainability to the next level. The majority of our departments are participating in this event and taking ownership over their green practices.
One EcoChallenge goal that we are particularly proud of will have a lasting impact on hotel operations after the event concludes. By October 15, the DoubleTree aims to replace prepackaged food items currently offered in our Executive Meeting Center with more sustainable alternatives. In food packaging alone, Americans discard 570 million pounds each day. Excess packaging waste has taken a toll on our environment and continues to be a growing concern.
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