Steve Gelderman, owner of East Shore Lodging and CalCat Solar: Hawley, PA
Where can you find a hotel with a commitment to sustainability? Look no further than East Shore Lodging in Hawley, PA. East Shore Lodging is looking ahead economically, environmentally and socially and being recognized for their efforts by the local pilot program, Wayne Businesses Conserve! “We are interested in energy conservation because it makes financial and environmental sense,” says Steve Gelderman, owner of East Shore Lodging. “Even though some of the energy conservation programs have a higher upfront cost, in the end they will end up saving us money.”
Impressively, East Shore Lodging has an established “Green Policy” that outlines their commitment to energy and resource conservation. For example, as part of their extensive recycling program, East Shore Lodging places a recycling bin in each of the hotels rooms, provides recycling literature and posts “turn me off” stickers next to light, TVs and heating/cooling systems. “Installing the in-room recycling baskets and a recycling dumpster has cut down considerably on our regular garbage waste,” says Gelderman.
Styrofoam disposable dishware has been largely replaced with washable glass dishware. When East Shore Lodging uses disposables in the high traffic summer season, they have switched to paper dishware. Paper is a much more environmentally friendly material than Styrofoam, which contains some unfriendly chemicals and takes over 500 years to degrade. Throughout the hotel, incandescent bulbs have been replaced with compact fluorescent bulbs.
East Shore Lodging further decreases their contributions to landfills by participating in a soap-recycling program called Clean the World. Clean the World collects and sterilizes used and new soap that would otherwise be thrown out, and gives it to domestic homeless shelters and impoverished communities around the world.
In order to offset their remaining electricity needs, East Shore Lodging installed a 3 kW Photo Voltaic Solar System on their roof in June, 2010. The 18 panels produce 3150 watts of electricity that provide energy to a portion of the hotel’s office. Gelderman’s future plans for East Shore Lodging are to install a solar thermal system to heat the hotel’s water and expand the existing PV array. Gelderman is also the owner of CalCat Solar Inc. a solar installation company in Hawley, PA.
Wayne Businesses Conserve! is a pilot program sponsored by SEEDS, Workforce Wayne and PPL Electric Utilities. Run throughout the summer of 2010 in Honesdale, PA, this program aims to recognize the energy conservation efforts of local businesses, share simple, affordable and economically sound conservation techniques and raise awareness about a sustainable energy future. Each WBC! participant has met established criteria in 6 different categories: energy conservation, renewable power, transportation, water conservation, purchasing & waste prevention and recycling & composting. Please contact WBC! with any questions at [email protected] or visit http://waynebusinessesconserve.weebly.com for more information.
Impressively, East Shore Lodging has an established “Green Policy” that outlines their commitment to energy and resource conservation. For example, as part of their extensive recycling program, East Shore Lodging places a recycling bin in each of the hotels rooms, provides recycling literature and posts “turn me off” stickers next to light, TVs and heating/cooling systems. “Installing the in-room recycling baskets and a recycling dumpster has cut down considerably on our regular garbage waste,” says Gelderman.
Styrofoam disposable dishware has been largely replaced with washable glass dishware. When East Shore Lodging uses disposables in the high traffic summer season, they have switched to paper dishware. Paper is a much more environmentally friendly material than Styrofoam, which contains some unfriendly chemicals and takes over 500 years to degrade. Throughout the hotel, incandescent bulbs have been replaced with compact fluorescent bulbs.
East Shore Lodging further decreases their contributions to landfills by participating in a soap-recycling program called Clean the World. Clean the World collects and sterilizes used and new soap that would otherwise be thrown out, and gives it to domestic homeless shelters and impoverished communities around the world.
In order to offset their remaining electricity needs, East Shore Lodging installed a 3 kW Photo Voltaic Solar System on their roof in June, 2010. The 18 panels produce 3150 watts of electricity that provide energy to a portion of the hotel’s office. Gelderman’s future plans for East Shore Lodging are to install a solar thermal system to heat the hotel’s water and expand the existing PV array. Gelderman is also the owner of CalCat Solar Inc. a solar installation company in Hawley, PA.
Wayne Businesses Conserve! is a pilot program sponsored by SEEDS, Workforce Wayne and PPL Electric Utilities. Run throughout the summer of 2010 in Honesdale, PA, this program aims to recognize the energy conservation efforts of local businesses, share simple, affordable and economically sound conservation techniques and raise awareness about a sustainable energy future. Each WBC! participant has met established criteria in 6 different categories: energy conservation, renewable power, transportation, water conservation, purchasing & waste prevention and recycling & composting. Please contact WBC! with any questions at [email protected] or visit http://waynebusinessesconserve.weebly.com for more information.