Green Key Global has awarded a “5 Green Keys” rating to four MGM Resorts International properties for its Green Key Meetings Program. Recipients include Bellagio Resort & Casino, ARIA Resort & Casino, Mandalay Bay Resort, and MGM Grand Las Vegas. Green Key awarded its top rating to the hotels because they exemplify the highest standards of environmental and social responsibility in relation to their meetings and convention facilities and practices.
Green Key Meetings is an assessment tool for eco-friendly resorts and hotels that hold meetings of any size. It is designed to provide travel, meeting, and conference planners with a sense of a property’s level of commitment to environment issues. Keys are awarded based on how properties perform in six conference and meeting areas: Core Areas (carbon, energy, water, waste, air quality), Communication (information, training), Activities (purchasing, auditing, community), People (health), Exhibitions, and Audio/Visual.
For its part, MGM Resorts has retrofitted meeting spaces with light sensors and energy-efficient lighting, as well as programs to deactivate heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning while spaces are not in use. Comprehensive recycling programs also divert 37.9 percent of all materials from landfills each year. Resorts also offer specialty menus featuring wide selections of organic, sustainable, and fair trade products, along with ways o further reduce water consumption.