Tarrytown House Estate & Conference Center in New York offers Eco-friendly Accommodations

TARRYTOWN, NY – March 8, 2008 – After vowing to become a more eco-friendly hotel and meeting facility, Tarrytown House Estate & Conference Center made good on its promise in 2007 by implementing numerous “green” initiatives which have resulted in 35% energy savings on the 26-acre property, which is managed by Destination Hotels & Resorts (DH&R). The historic Westchester County estate updated old air conditioners with new energy-saving units and replaced 5,000 light bulbs with energy-efficient fluorescents to impact the bulk of the savings.

In keeping with DH&R’s corporate Destination Earth program, Tarrytown House, whose environmentally friendly strategies were featured in Gannett’s Journal News’ (Westchester County, NY) article “Hotels Put Green Into Greening Effort,” continues this focus in 2008. Some of the most recent actions employed include:

• Using regional food products to decrease the property’s “carbon footprint.” The Tarrytown House culinary department sources fresh ingredients from the Hudson Valley, avoiding which avoids the need to fly products in from the around the world. Additionally, Executive Chef Paul Sant uses herbs and apples from his own garden during the summer months.

• Working with a local co-op, instead of an industrial carting company, the property’s wasted cooking oil is converted into environmentally friendly bio-diesel for community use.

• Donating unused audio-visual materials, such as flip chart paper and batteries to local, non-profit organizations and employee partners to decrease waste.

• Partnering with companies that share the same commitment doubles environmental savings. For example, Tarrytown House Estate’s preferred limo service, The Metropolitan Transportation Company, offsets 100 percent of vehicle emissions from its business operations and is an Environmental Protection Agency Climate Leader Partner.

Tarrytown House Estate Green Initiatives

• In an effort to reduce printed materials, sales kits are now predominantly sent via email in PDF format. At times, printed copies are still requested, so these produced using a high quality variable digital process, thus only printing as many as needed, rather than the thousands that are printed via traditional offset methods.

• Printing of any sales kits or folders is on eco-friendly New Leaf Paper© Reincarnation Matte. This paper is 100% recycled, 50% post-consumer waste, processed chlorine-free, manufactured with electricity that is offset with Green-e® certified renewable energy certificates, and is “Ancient Forest Friendly.”

• Notepads for meetings and conferences now have fewer pages, thereby cutting the number of blank pages that are discarded.

• Placing water coolers outside meeting facilities for refills instead of new water bottles.

• Switching coffee vendors to a locally roasted, fair trade coffee.

• Installing motion-sensitive thermostats in Tarrytown House guest accommodations keeps rooms at even temperatures while guests are out of the room.

• Digging its own well to water 26 acres, the property saves thousands of gallons of reservoir water every summer, adding to the community’s savings.

For more information on Tarrytown House Estate’s Destination Earth Program, please visit http://www.tarrytownhouseestate.com or call 1-800-533-8118.