VIDEO: Democrats “Go Green” for National Convention

Working at the downtown Denver Sheraton, Joe O’Neil has checked a lot of people in throughout his career.

“A lot of check ins,“ said O’Neil.

During his 10 years, one thing has always stayed the same - key cards have always been made of plastic.

“Plastic keys, different logos but the same thing,“ said O’Neil.

That is until the 2008 Democratic National Convention when 91 hotels in Denver will be going against the grain by using hotel room keys made out of wood.

Michael Ehmann, general manager of the Sheraton Denver Hotel, says it’s a brand new idea in the hotel industry.

“It’s very unique. It’s the first time in the United States we’ll be using sustainable key cards,“ said Ehmann.

The cards are made by a Boulder company called Sustainable Cards.

Greg Hartmann is the CEO and says each card is made from a sustainable forest grown specifically to be used in wood products.

“We combine different layers of wood together and in the right dynamic it’s able to be both flexible and it’s able to be stiff enough to use as a key card,“ said Hartmann.

Because the cards are made of wood, you can actually see the grain on them, and just like their plastic counterparts, they work.

“They’re just like the traditional hotel key cards that are made of plastic, but these are made of wood. They work beautifully,“ said Ehmann.

Sustainable Cards has donated 70,000 of the cards, 5,000 going to the Sheridan to be used during the DNC as part of its green initiative.

The hope is that hotels and guest will see wooden cards as an alternative to plastic cards most of which end up in landfills.

“A typical hotel will go through 12,000 cards in a year. Most of those end up in landfills. Nationwide over a year it’s the equivalent of seven 747 airplanes,“ said Hartmann.

As for O’Neil, he’s just glad to see something new in the world of keys.

“I mean it’s brand new. I’m excited for a little bit of a change,“ said O’Neil.