Dear “Earth Talk”: Many hotels now ask
guests to reuse towels and not request new sheets every day as a way to
save water and energy. What other eco-friendly trends, if any, are taking
place in the hospitality industry? —Jenny Baker, Bozeman, Mont.
Asking guests to reuse towels and keep sheets for
more than one night are just a few of the many ways the lodging industry
has been rapidly “greening up” operations in recent years.
According to the Green Hotels Association, a trade group of hotels, motels,
and inns across the United States that is committed to sustainable business
practices, thousands of member establishments share common goals of saving
water, energy, and other resources — while saving money — to
help protect the planet.
Travelers don’t seem to mind. Such minor
concessions as saving towels and sheets are garnering some 70 percent
participation among guests, according to GHA, and in the process
they’re saving lodging establishments as much as 5 percent on utility
bills.
Other examples of green-friendly hospitality
strategies abound. Shower-wall-mounted body washes (ubiquitous in Europe)
are replacing those tiny individual soap bars and disposable shampoo and
conditioner bottles. Room lights are being retrofitted with energy-saving
compact fluorescent bulbs in lieu of incandescent energy hogs. Some
establishments are installing “occupancy sensors” so that
lights turn on and off automatically when guests enter or leave their
rooms. Still others are providing cloth laundry bags made from retired
sheets and installing “low flush” toilets to save water.
Hotel restaurants and banquet facilities are also
getting in on the act, serving water “upon request only,”
shunning disposable paper and plastic in favor of reusable pitchers and
pourers for cream and sugar, and using small serving dishes in place of
single-serving pouches for butter and jellies. Some are also using coins or
chips for car-parking and coat-checking instead of paper tickets. Outdoors,
solar energy is powering signs and, in tropical areas, heating water. And
mowed landscaping is being replaced by plantings and other kinds of ground
cover to reduce lawnmower use and its inherent air and noise pollution.
Green Seal, a nonprofit organization that promotes
the use of environmentally friendly products and practices throughout the
business world, began working with the lodging industry a decade ago,
educating the 54,000 U.S. hotels and motels about the economic benefits of
environmental choices and publishing Greening
Your Property, a comprehensive guide to green
purchasing and operations for the hospitality industry. The guide helps
hoteliers find environmentally friendly options for nearly everything they
buy — from industrial cleaners and floor-care products to paints,
lighting, and recycled paper towels, tissues, and napkins. Additionally,
Green Seal’s hotel-certification program helps tourists, meeting
planners, and business travelers identify environmentally responsible
lodging options.
The green trend has proliferated mainly at smaller
independent hotels, but the large chains are paying attention, too. Indeed,
placards asking guests to reuse towels are already ubiquitous at hotels
operated by the likes of Best Western, Marriott, Ramada, Sheraton, and
Westin, to name a few. And many of these chains have enacted far-reaching
practices and policies involving environmental sustainability.
For more information: Green Hotels Association,
www.greenhotels.com; Green Seal, www.greenseal.org.
Send questions to “Earth Talk” in care of E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881, or e-mail earthtalk@emagazine.com.
This article appears in Jun 2-8, 2005.
