Aug 21, 2008 11:30 am US/Eastern
Company Donates 'Green' Hotel Keys For DNC
DENVER, Colo. (CBS) ―
Some Denver convention visitors may get into their hotel rooms with biodegradable wooden key cards instead of the traditional plastic versions.
Boulder-based Sustainable Cards says it has partnered with card manufacturer CPI Card Group to donate more than 70,000 of the cards to Denver hotels.
Sustainable Cards says they are made from sustainably-harvested wood and bear the Denver Host Committee's logo.
"Cutting down trees in a sustainable harvested forest, which is what we draw our supply from, is just like taking out corn or flowers and replanting them next year," said Greg Hartmann, Sustainable Cards President.
The Grant Hyatt in Denver is one of the first hotels to try the key.
"From the hotels perspective, this fits in very well with our recycling efforts, our energy conservation," Kevin Hodge with Grand Hyatt Denver said. "(It's) something that is more sustainable than a typical plastic key. We think it's a great idea."
The company says the cards have been used for nearly a decade in Europe and are just as durable as the plastic version.
The company says switching to the wood cards nationwide could reduce plastic waste by 1,300 tons a year.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
