Recycling, sustainable living and “going green” are a way of life, especially in California. As Central California’s first U.S. Environmental Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Certified Silver LEED-EB hotel, the Portola Hotel has always led from the front. But, recognizing the need for their employees to have a channel with which to bring their own green ideas to management, the Portola Green LEEDers program was started in January 2011.
Through the Green LEEDers program, Portola staff help to continue and maintain the green initiatives put in place and introduce new ideas, such as in the staff lunch room, where there are separate waste bins for trash, recyclables, and food waste. In 2012, the hotel adopted Monterey’s Del Monte beach in 2012, where Green LEEDers organize four beach cleanups a year through the local environmental non-profit organization Save our Shores.
With interactive programs that engage the hotel and its employees in green practices, as well as engaging in additional sustainability projects, the Portola Hotel & Spa and its restaurants, Jacks Restaurants & Lounge and Peter B’s Brewpub, have established themselves as true leaders in going green.