Green Newport

Planning an eco-friendly meeting in Southern California? Look no further than Newport Beach! Boasting an impressive amount of green spaces and City-supported eco-friendly practices, Newport Beach's pristine coastline and beaches, named one of the cleanest beaches in 2008, is the perfect Orange County and Southern California green meetings and eco-friendly conference destination.

Newport Hotels & Green Meetings

Balboa Bay Club & Resort has long considered itself to be a good steward of the environment and more recently implemented a "Going Green Program" throughout the resort to focus even more on this effort. Every month, the resort executive management reviews each department and learns of new ways to help the environment with new sustainable products and methods of recycling, such as: encouraging meeting and conference attendees to use USB port jump-drives versus printing hand-outs or creating binders, increasing the use of email brochures and PDF's to reduce printing and using bio-degradable materials for gourmet lunch boxes and corn-based utensils. Additionally, the majority of heating/air conditioning and lighting systems has been computerized to enable automatic shut down when rooms are not in use.

Fairmont Newport Beach, part of Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, a longtime leader in sustainable tourism and the first major hotel chain in North America to embrace environmental stewardship in its daily operations through the implementation of its own Green Partnership Program. The program focuses on sustainability, mainly improvements in the areas of waste management, energy and water conservation, as well as a strong element of community outreach through local groups and partnerships. These initiatives include recycling and organic waste diversion in the hotel's kitchens, retrofitting energy efficient lighting, creating rooftop herb gardens at properties, purchasing green power, and redistributing gently used goods and food to those in need. At Fairmont Newport Beach and all Fairmont Hotels & Resorts in California, free "green" parking is offered to overnight guests who drive hybrid vehicles. Additionally, Fairmont Newport Beach participates in the California Coastal Commission Adopt-a-Beach Program and Adopt-A-Shelter Program. This property also supports Fairmont's relationship with the Make A Wish Foundation.

Hyatt Regency Newport Beach - Hyatt Hotels & Resorts appointed a new vice president of environmental affairs in January 2008 who assists with the development of a corporate environmental policy that addresses Hyatt's commitment to minimizing the impact that its hotels have on the environment. The policy focuses on awareness and education to promote and reinforce a culture of environmental consciousness through all facets of Hyatt's global operations.

Hornblower Cruises & Adventures at Sea in Newport Beach aims to reduce their carbon footprint and stimulating others to do the same with their "Green Awareness" program which focuses on: Improvement of resource utilization through reducing, reusing and recycling; adaptation of more eco-friendly cruise operations through smart choices and effective awareness; and the creation of new opportunities to outreach and encourage others to adapt a sustainable culture. In May 2008, Hornblower created the industries first carbon offsetting option for all private and public cruise events. Additionally, urinals on board fleets are beginning to be replaced with water free urinals. As of February 2009, Hornblower began new operation methods that will reduce overall emissions by at least 30% port-wide.

The Resort at Pelican Hill is so close in proximity to the marine habitat of Crystal Cove State Park that the Irvine Company, the resort's developer, took unprecedented steps to create an elaborate water quality system based on conservation and recycling, to see that this area is protected from any harmful pollutants. Pelican Hill developed its own computerized irrigation system, which many environmental experts and activists say is the most advanced water quality management program on the California coast. The most high-tech feature is the irrigation controller called WeatherTrax that can virtually eliminate runoff from over-watering, using a link-up to weather satellite data. The golf courses also have their own on-site weather stations that measure rainfall, temperature, humidity and evaporation rates that transfer the information to the computerized irrigation system as well as seven full-time irrigators who check the soil by hand with probes to determine which areas need water. Two man-made lakes were created between the 15th and 17th holes of Pelican Ocean North course and 3,000 ft away at the South course to irrigate the golf courses with water purchased from the Irvine Water District.