April 6th, 2012 by TRT Blog

This past week on March 29, the fourth annual University of Washington Environmental Innovation Challenge was held at the competitions namesake. The Environmental Innovation Challenge is a friendly competition that calls on student teams from across the entire Northwest to explore an environmental problem, design and develop a solution, produce a working prototype, and present a business model and market opportunity to a panel of judges. This year’s judging panel was comprised of local clean-tech experts, entrepreneurs and investors.

In order to tackle the emerging and growing green economy, student teams pitched a wide range of innovative, ground-breaking ideas that have the potential to help entire communities and possibly the world.

The winning idea came from a University of Washington team named Green Innovative Safety Technologies. Their vision would eliminate the need for heavy, concrete highway jersey barriers. Instead, through their model, discarded ground-up tires from landfills (according to the team one tire, per person, per year is discarded in the US) would be cased into lane separation devices. According to the team, it would cost less per mile and emit less carbon emissions than concrete. The team took home $10,000 for their idea.

Other teams presented prototypes and business plans for sustainable, temporary housing after natural disasters, urban greenhouses, a non-stick cookware alternative to Teflon, and more.

As a company that works closely with universities on projects that increase overall campus sustainability, it’s great to see one university’s efforts to get students involved in green initiatives as well. In our eyes, all of the student teams who competed at the Environmental Innovation Challenge are winners.

For more information on the event or to learn how to sign up for next year’s competition, go here. And to learn more about how your university can decrease its environmental impact and carbon footprint, visit our website at www.therefinishingtouch.com.

clean tech, environmental, Environmental Innovation Challenge, green economy, Sustainability, University of Washington, UW

April 5th, 2012 by TRT Blog

Over the past couple of weeks, we have been working diligently on the newest issue of our quarterly newsletter, InTouch. Missed out on previous issues? Don’t forget to sign up to receive our newsletter today! In the upcoming newsletter, you’ll read stories on industry climates—including government, hospitality, and higher education—insight into how to make furniture asset management work for your organization, updates on our most recent government project at NAS Pensacola, information on our upcoming hospitality webinar on navigating Product Improvement Plans, and more.

To sign up, go to the bottom of our homepage at www.therefinishingtouch.com and enter your contact details to receive our newsletter next week. It’s a great way to stay InTouch!

intouch, newsletter, quarterly

April 3rd, 2012 by TRT Blog

As April marks the start of ‘Earth Day’ month, we thought it was only fitting to take a look back and see how this day, celebrated by millions around the world, got its start.

Earth Day was enacted on April 22nd, 1970, an idea that was born after former US Wisconsin Senator, Gaylord Nelson, observed the environmental damages caused by the 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. The first Earth Day commenced with 20 million Americans rallying for political environmental awareness and action. As a result, not long after the first Earth Day, Washington created the Environmental Protection Agency, and passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act.

Today, Earth Day has grown from a national trend to an international movement, spearheaded by the Earth Day Network (EDN), active in 190 countries worldwide. Earth Day also serves as a communal beacon, promoting proper environmental education within schools and other organizations via one of its main partnerships, the US Green Building Council.

Its most recent initiative, “A Billion Acts of Green”, encourages communities and individuals to commit to environmental services, and over 40 million actions have already been pledged. Those who wish to commit can do anything as simple as unplugging electronics when not in use, carpooling, using public transit, or organizing a beach clean-up within their local neighborhood.

Earth Day and the EDN teach us that if each person does something small and simple to help our planet that it will all add up to one significant change for the better. Let’s make this year’s Earth Day just as spectacular as the ones before by simply pledging to do our best, and to make sure that our best makes a positive impact for future generations.

Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Earth Day, Earth Day 2012, Earth Day Network, Endangered Species Act, environment, environmental protection agency, EPA, Gaylord Nelson

March 30th, 2012 by TRT Blog

Here at The Refinishing Touch we consider ourselves as pioneers within the growing sustainability movement, particular amongst our target industries—government, higher education and hospitality. Having been in the business for 35 years, we continue to work to ensure that refinishing, refurbishing and reupholstery helps our customers save money and the environment, versus buying new furniture.

In this month’s visual blog post, we wanted to highlight the work that we’ve done at a number of universities across the country, and show the benefits that an entire industry has seen from furniture refinishing and furniture asset management. Universities are one of the top industries in the world whose furniture assets experience constant and consistent wear and abuse. As you can see from some of the photos below, most of this furniture may have looked as if it was time to be thrown away, but all it needed was a bit of tender love and care!

The fact that these institutions are willing to embrace the notion of refurbishing and refinishing their existing pieces is not only cost effective but also very smart. See for yourself how something as simple as reupholstering and refurbishing can take a furniture piece from outdated to updated, all while reducing carbon footprints one customer at a time.

Before & After

asset management, environment, furniture asset management, refinishing, refurbishing, reupholstry, Sustainability, visual blog post

March 27th, 2012 by TRT Blog

As the winter frost begins to melt away for most of the country, our crew had the pleasure of completing our most recent refinishing project at the DoubleTree Anaheim-Orange County in Anaheim, California. First settled in 1857, Anaheim has a historical, small town feel to it and the city is filled with attractions and activities to do, not to mention boasts warm weather almost year round. The location itself couldn’t be any more perfect for our team to be on assignment, especially with Disneyland, shopping, and sporting events just steps away.

The state of California has been developing a reputation within recent years for being a primary supporter for environmental friendliness, sustainability, and green technologies for a wide range of projects, from innovative development to everyday construction. And since we’ve been working with the DoubleTree and Hilton brands for years, it was easy for our crew to get into the swing of things.

Our time at the DoubleTree consisted of refinishing staple furniture pieces such as reupholstering headboards with refreshing new colors, and updating valuable furniture hardware, and we couldn’t be more proud of our work. And by deciding to refinishing furniture instead of buying new, the DoubleTree Hilton Anaheim-Orange County has saved a great deal of money, as well as decreased their environmental impact. The carbon footprint for the DoubleTree Hilton, a hotel with 95 rooms, would have been 119.054 in tons versus 1.178 tons with using our services. That saves over 90 percent in carbon emissions!

Refinished headboard at the Hilton DoubleTree Anaheim

If you’re looking for a great place to stay while visiting the Golden State or ‘The Happiest Place on Earth’, we highly recommend booking a few nights at the DoubleTree Hilton Anaheim-Orange County. Not only will you get to sleep in a beautiful setting, but the hotel offers complimentary shuttle services to the gates of Disneyland as well as being within proximity to other various activities. And as a pet-friendly hotel, it truly is a place where fun can be had for the entire family.

Anaheim, California, Disneyland, DoubleTree, hardware, Hilton Hotel, Orange County, refinishing, reupholstry

March 23rd, 2012 by TRT Blog

A steadily growing trend among the hotel industry is the pathway to a greener and cleaner hotel. What most businesses in the industry may fail to realize is that making the move towards a green hotel is not only a popular move among the consumers, but can also be very cost effective. Here is The Refinishing Touch’s list of top tips for hotels looking to go green:

1. Rethink your flow: Installing low flow systems—toilets, sinks, and showers—in every bathroom not only lessens the amount of water used by guests, but it also lowers the monthly water bill that the operators have to pay.

2. Buy local: Consider buying organic and locally grown produce for kitchens and restaurants. This not only lowers gas emissions for transportation, but it supports local farmers and sellers. Plus organic foods stop pesticides from polluting the environment.

3. Offer incentives: Busy travelers don’t always remember to decline room cleaning or towel changes. Jog their memory with a well-planned incentive program. Offer five dollar gift cards to Starbucks or money off a meal at the hotel restaurant. This will be sure to entice distracted travels to participate in your hotel’s green programs.

4. Asset Management: Hotel furniture sees a lot of use, but sometimes all it needs to look and perform like new again is a new finish or new upholstery. Instead of buying new furniture consider refinishing and refurbishing instead. Not only does it save time and money, but it prevents tons of wood from ending up in landfills.

While there are many other ways for hotels to save money and the environment, these few tips not only help save money, but it reduces carbon emissions and environmental impact otherwise produced by manufacturing new pieces of furniture and throwing out the old. In the end, having a green hotel not only appeals to the interest of the consumer, but it helps to maintain budgets. A win-win all around!

budgets, environment, green hotel, low flow systems, organic, sustainable, tips, transportation

March 20th, 2012 by TRT Blog

For the fourth year in a row, Indiana State University has received the Tree Campus USA Award for their increasing involvement in environmental sustainability via their community forestry management program. This award is issued by the Arbor Day Foundation to universities across the country that make a conscious effort to plant new trees and recognize the importance of spreading knowledge about environmental sustainability.

ISU’s plan, which has involved community forestry programs, creating a tree canopy on campus that has managed to survive two droughts, and encouraging student involvement has been such a success that it is being seen as the model for which other universities should follow. ISU continues to both meet and exceed the five markers needed in order to receive the Tree Campus USA Award: have a tree conservation committee, devise a campus tree-care plan, dedicate funds to support the program, observe Arbor Day, and sponsor campus-wide student service-learning projects.

The Refinishing Touch firmly believes that ISU is a shining example of the growing awareness about the importance of environmental sustainability. This program aims to spread this knowledge amongst ISU’s student body in hopes that it will trickle down to their local communities and result in a conscious effort to integrate sustainability and environmental awareness into everyday actions and habits. Here at The Refinishing Touch, we can only hope that what starts off as a movement can become a permanent part in everyone’s life.

Arbor Day, Arbor Day Foundation, environment, Indiana State University, ISU, Sustainability, Tree Campus USA award

March 16th, 2012 by TRT Blog

As you will know following our announcement last month, The Refinishing Touch is now a Best Western preferred vendor. As part of this exciting new partnership, we are undertaking a project to convert any existing Best Western armoires to accommodate flat screen televisions by the end of the year.

To kick off the project, we met with members of the Best Western team to discuss how every person involved—from The Refinishing Touch crew members to Best Western franchisors—will get the best experience possible from this partnership. We began the event with a presentation about all of our state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly products and services that are used to convert armoires, and as a wrap up, showed our Discovery Channel video segment which provides a useful overview of how The Refinishing Touch process works.

The event this week with Best Western was a great way to meet everyone involved at the hotel organization as well as gear up excitement about the new armoire conversion project. The Refinishing Touch is very much looking forward to working with everyone in the Best Western family to help hotels across the country update their accommodations and continue to provide a memorable hotel experience for guests and travelers.

armoire conversion, Best Western, Discovery Channel, refinishing, remanufacturing

March 13th, 2012 by TRT Blog

At The Refinishing Touch we’re always on the lookout for new ways to save the environment and give to back the community at the same time. So when we heard about Clean the World, we were happy to hear about people who share our commitment and point of view.

Shawn Seipler was just an ordinary business traveler from Florida. Then one day, during a stay in a Minneapolis hotel, he questioned what many of us have probably thought in passing: what happens to his barely used bar of soap after checkout? After rounds of informal hotel polls, Seipler learned that the fate of used hotel toiletries was primarily the same—the landfill. And according to the Environmental Protection Agency, that equates to almost 200 million tons of solid waste per year for the hospitality industry.

And within the land of unused hotel soaps and toiletries was where Seipler and his friend, Paul Till, found an opportunity. In 2009, the ‘Clean the World’ organization opened its doors with the goal of improving the environment and sanitation in developing countries.

After three years of business, Seipler, Till and ‘Clean the World’ have distributed more than 10 million bars of soap in 45 countries worldwide, and their facilities in Orlando, Florida alone are processing more than 40,000 bars of soap a day.

While there is still a long way to go in recycling every hotel soap and barely-used toiletry, ‘Clean the World’ has already partnered with almost 1,300 hotel and lodgings in North America and Puerto Rico and continues to partner with new hotels regularly.

To learn more about ‘Clean the World’, donate, or find hotels participating in the program, visit cleantheworld.org.

Clean the World, environment, environmental protection agency, EPA, Hotels, Paul Till, Shawn Seipler, soap, Sustainability, waste

March 9th, 2012 by TRT Blog

Most of us are aware of the importance of being sustainable in our everyday lives and how our actions affect the environment. Everything we do has an impact – the food we buy, the car we drive (and how long/often), the homes we live in, where we travel to and stay on vacation. And there are a number of studies that show if businesses listen to the wants of their consumers, they are likely to increase their reputation and their bottom line.

In one such study which was recently published, conducted by market research firm American LIVES, researchers spent 18 years (yes, that’s right – years) tracking the values that baby boomer generation consumers place on sustainability. Here are some highlights from the findings:

- 97% were interested in high energy efficient heating and cooling for their own homes
- The majority of respondents said they would pay more for a sustainable home
- 87% said they thought favorably of a hotel company that had a green design / sustainable practices
- And 50% said they would be willing to pay up to 5% more to stay at such hotels

Here at The Refinishing Touch, we’re glad to see consumers embracing these types of changes. But hotels, along with other businesses and organizations, need to act, and to take these findings into consideration when reviewing their furniture assets and planning upgrades to rooms, offices and accommodations. It’s not just about meeting customer expectations – it’s also about being cost-efficient: remember, refinishing furniture is upwards of 80 percent less than buying new.

So by committing to sustainable options, businesses have the opportunity to take care of the environment and make more money—and we think it’s difficult to find a downside in that outcome.

American LIVES, consumers, environment, market research, study, sustainable