Great Forest attended the Waste Expo in New Orleans in May to discuss trends with industry experts and get a peek into new innovations in the field. The event drew over 12,000 participants and 620 exhibitors. Here is our quick…  Continue Reading...

NYC hotels are being fined.  Now help is on its way. Join us for the upcoming HANYC Waste Management Seminar on June 29, organized by the Hotel Association of NYC with support from Great Forest. The event was organized quickly…  Continue Reading...

Are you ready for a quick and easy boost in energy savings? Then join us for Daylight Hour, an annual campaign promoting the use of natural daylight in offices whenever possible. For one day in June each year, participants around the world…  Continue Reading...

Great Forest will be in New Orleans for the WasteExpo, a key annual gathering of waste industry experts.  If you are attending, look for us.  We will be meeting with vendors and talking to industry insiders to keep you in the…  Continue Reading...

Read the press release See the case study for details After a successful pilot, Great Forest launched an innovative program in the Mid-Atlantic region to take waste management to the next level. Now we are proud to reveal the results. Working with…  Continue Reading...

This  year, Earth Hour fell on a weekend! Nevertheless, we heard from clients around the country who went dark for at least an hour.  The action is a great reminder, as we approach Earth Day, that we all need to renew…  Continue Reading...

Accurate metrics is key to a successful waste and recycling program.  It helps you evaluate the effectiveness of your efforts, and determine if changes are needed. The numbers also inform your overall sustainability reporting and affect your goals. But what…  Continue Reading...

No matter where your business is located across the country, staying on top of new and updated regulations is key to avoiding fines, which can add up. Take note of the date a law goes into effect, and the date…  Continue Reading...

In NYC, inspectors are currently out in force issuing fines for non-compliance of the city’s new organics law, and gearing up to enforce updated waste and recycling rules in a few months. NYC hotels seem to be bearing the brunt of…  Continue Reading...

The beginning of whole new year is a great time to review your sustainability strategy, and set the tone for the months ahead. What should you do? 1) Check on new and upcoming regulations Ensure you are in compliance to avoid…  Continue Reading...

Attention all NYC businesses. New waste and recycling regulations went into effect last year. We are now in the warning period. The warning period for the new organics rule just ended.  Enforcement begins Jan. 2017. Are you ready? Learn more:  Q&A On…  Continue Reading...

CONGRATULATIONS ON ANOTHER GREAT YEAR 2016 has been such an eventful year. What did we all accomplish together? Below is a short list of highlights. Happy holidays from the entire Great Forest team. The EPA incorporated Great Forest’s volume to weight (VTW)…  Continue Reading...

The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) recently incorporated Great Forest’s volume to weight (VTW) data into their updated industry standard for calculating waste and recycling weights from volume. These conversions can now be used across all industries to help standardize how waste and…  Continue Reading...

During this season of giving and thanks, we thought it might be helpful to put all our advice on donating for reuse into a handy guide. Each year, over 100 million tons of material end up in landfills. This includes…  Continue Reading...

What do you do if you need to get rid of 100 gallons of furniture polish and clear out over 400 beds? While many businesses would simply pay to get the items hauled away, often to the landfill, the Fairmont Hotel…  Continue Reading...

America Recycles Day is November 15. It is the one day to remind yourself and everyone around you about the importance of recycling. NEED HELP? Here are 20 TIPS to get you started. Following this list of 20 tips will…  Continue Reading...

When paper is shredded AND then recycled, you are not only handling your confidential/sensitive documents corrrectly, but you are also being environmentally friendly. You are reducing the demand for lumber, water and energy required to produce new paper. For secure…  Continue Reading...

This blog post is from Great Forest sustainability research intern Kathleen Emerson, a recent graduate from Hunter College holding a B.A. in Environmental Studies: Policy and Management. She is a zero waste enthusiast who is actively mindful of reducing consumption and…  Continue Reading...

A big thank you to Mike Doherty, President/CEO of Building Maintenance Services; Ralph Scopo from Classic, the team from Royal Waste, and all the other industry folks who turned out in force to support this year’s Pure Earth golf benefit. As many…  Continue Reading...

Read the full story, which first appeared in Green Lodging News. The results of the New York City Mayor’s Zero Waste Challenge were recently revealed, with The Peninsula New York emerging tops in the hotel category. The Peninsula was able to…  Continue Reading...

  “Great Forest has been instrumental in helping us minimize trash and maximize recycling and composting at our large-scale festivals,” said Estelle Silberman, event manager, Stone Barns Center For Food And Agriculture. Read the full testimonial. And we are looking…  Continue Reading...

This post is by James Bernard in Great Forest’s San Francisco office. Recently, I was reminded of the three Rs of waste diversion—Reduce, Reuse, Recycle—set to music by mellow musician Jack Johnson as a children’s song. Johnson’s deceptively simple “3 R song,”…  Continue Reading...

Great Forest is a proud supporter of Pure Earth, a nonprofit that works to clean up some of the world’s worst polluted communities. Our blog features regular stories about their work is Making A Difference. Recycling is a great thing.  But it…  Continue Reading...

NYC businesses should note that new rules covering organics, and waste and recycling have come into effect over the past month. New organics rules went into effect July 19, 2016.  See the official notice for details. New waste and recycling…  Continue Reading...

For the first time, data submitted by some of the NYC’s biggest buildings under Local Law 84 (benchmarking) and Local Law 87 (auditing) have been analyzed together to give a clear picture not only of the amount of energy and water…  Continue Reading...

Aug 2016 — Businesses in Arlington, VA, should be on the lookout for a notice from the County’s Department of Environmental Services, which details changes to the recycling code.  Note that Arlington businesses may be inspected by the County for compliance. An…  Continue Reading...

Earlier this year, the Mayor challenged New York businesses to go zero waste. The results are in.  Great Forest’s NYC clients are among the top performers, with the Peninsula New York leading the way in the “hotel” category. The challenge attracted…  Continue Reading...

Congratulations to First Potomac Realty Trust for their double wins at the recent 2016 TOBY (The Outstanding Building of the Year) Awards! Not only was First Potomac named the grand winner, taking the big prize of the night for their…  Continue Reading...

Great Forest was one of over 650 offices worldwide that participated in the 2016 Daylight Hour movement on June 17. The fun event, designed to encourage the use of daylight instead of electricity when possible, reached over 10 million people on social media,…  Continue Reading...

It is that time of the year again. Over the past few weeks, Great Forest has helped clients do a bit of spring cleaning.  But instead of treating the unwanted items as trash, we found them all new homes–in a school, an…  Continue Reading...

As noted in this blog a few months ago, with e-waste rules firmly on the books across the country, the trend now seems to be towards greater enforcement, with bigger, multi-million dollar fines being levied. Why? Perhaps because a new investigative report…  Continue Reading...

San Francisco is proposing the most extensive ban on Styrofoam in the country, building on its decade-old ban on most foam food containers. While some applaud the move, others are pushing for recycling the foam. Read more. NYC Approves Bag Fee.…  Continue Reading...

UPDATE: Please note that the upcoming Hospitality Roundtable on July 27 has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. We apologize for any inconvenience. We will work with those who have already bought tickets for a refund.  If you have any questions,…  Continue Reading...