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Ultimate Guide to Sustainable Travel: Accommodations
7. Choose ENERGY STAR Properties Before making a hotel reservation in the United States, go to Energy Star for Hospitality to see if any properties in the area you're visiting have earned the Energy Star label. Compared to hotels with an average efficiency rating, Energy Star locations produce 30 to 35 percent less greenhouse gas emissions. Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.
"For a 200-room, upscale hotel, the avoided carbon emissions associated with a hotel that has earned the Energy Star are 580 to 620 tons per year," says Stuart Brodsky, Energy Star's national program manager for commercial property markets. "This is the annual emissions' equivalent in the range of 123 cars, 70 households' worth of energy consumption, or 2.5 railroad cars of coal."
In 2007, there were 242 Energy Star-labeled hotels in the U.S., yet, Brodsky reports, actually 25 percent of the nation's hotels qualify for the certification. To qualify for Energy Star, hotels must achieve an energy-efficiency rating of at least 75 on a 100 point scale, subject to verification of indoor air quality.
"A lot of the organizations we work with use the rating system as a management strategy, but haven't taken their graded scores and had them certified," adds Brodsky. "In a very short period of time, I think that you will see more hotels listed on the Energy Star website because we know there are a lot more that qualify. Generally speaking, travelers haven't asked about a property's Energy Star rating, so hoteliers haven't taken the step forward to get external credit for their environmental efforts. Inquiring about Energy Star is one way travelers can let hoteliers know that what they do to help lessen their impact on the environment really matters."
8. Support Sustainable Tourism Practices Choose tour operators that support sustainable tourism through their bookings and operating policies.
"When I book a trip with a tour operator, I always do it directly and I always start with one key question: 'How do you support sustainable tourism practices?' If they do not have a clue what I am talking about, or cannot put me on to someone in their company who does, I just move on to another company," says Costas Christ, president of the Adventure Council and founding member and former chairman of the board of the International Ecotourism Society.
"Once upon a time—like ten years ago—this kind of question would be an oddity, but not anymore. There are so many tour operators out there that are benchmarking best practices in sustainable tourism that if one company that you are dealing with does not have any idea what your questions mean, take your business someplace else, where it really will make a difference in the world."
Let hotel operators know that environmentally sound management and stewardship programs matter to you by staying at certified, eco-friendly properties. Before you make a reservation, ask about any environmental certifications such as Green Globe, the international benchmarking and certification system for the travel and tourism industry; CERES' Green Hotel Initiative (GHI); Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Conventions (CERC); Florida's Green Lodging Program, and Environmentally Friendly Hotels.
One of the North American industry leaders in sustainable tourism and environmental stewardship is Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, winner of the 2006 Worldwide Hospitality Award for Best Corporate Social Responsibility Program. The Fairmont Green Partnership, founded in 1990 by the company's Canadian properties, evolved into the acclaimed Green Partnership Guide, a comprehensive how-to text for companies committed to incorporating eco-friendly practices and principles.
The guide encompasses topics such as energy management, water conservation, and community outreach and partnerships. Each of the ideas included is put into practice at a Fairmont location. For example, the Fairmont Waterfront in Vancouver, British Columbia, features a heat-recovery system that captures condensate—steam that has been condensed back into water—from hot-water tanks, and then uses it to preheat incoming city water. According to Fairmont engineers, the energy saved (an estimated 305,380 kilowatt-hours, or 1,100 G per year) is enough to meet the annual energy needs of seven average-sized homes.
10. Book New
New hotel construction is more likely to feature state-of-the-art energy saving features. So, particularly in areas where no property shines as an obvious green star, look for locations that have been built in the last few years. New appliances and heating and cooling systems operate more efficiently than older models, providing maximum energy and cost savings.
"Larger, older, hotels can consume up to 400 gallons of water per day per room," says Mitch Rofsky, president and chief executive officer, Better World Club, an environmentally friendly auto club based in Portland, Oregon. "This huge waste can be cut dramatically by choosing a hotel that uses low-flow toilets, showerheads, and faucet aerators, and that recycles its laundry water."
While most new properties can be more eco-friendly without really trying, other recent entries into the lodging industry are built on a foundation of environmental stewardship. For example, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide's ELEMENT extended-stay hotels, which launched in early 2008, promise to incorporate eco-friendly elements into each room.
Element, an extension of the Westin Hotels and Resorts brand, will feature showers equipped with shampoo and conditioner dispensers, eliminating the need for millions of plastic shampoo and conditioner bottles; bathrooms featuring low-flow faucets and toilets are expected to save an estimated 4,358 gallons of water per room each year; recycling bins in guest rooms; and energy-saving compact fluorescents to light guest rooms and common areas.
11. Stay Simple When looking for a place to stay, choose the smallest, simplest option. Smaller properties with fewer amenities consume less energy, and typically provide more personal, and authentically local, service.
"Some people are only going to stay in top-shelf hotels, but it is good to keep in mind that luxury hotels, by the nature of their services and accommodation, use a lot more energy than a simple roadside hotel," says Tedd Saunders, president, EcoLogical Solutions, Inc., and owner of Boston's Lenox Hotel and Comfort Inn & Suites Airport/Boston.
In 1992, Saunders instituted an aggressive environmental program at the Lenox Hotel, which has grown to include over 100 environmental initiatives designed to protect people's health and preserve natural resources. Saunders's eco-friendly efforts, as well as similar companywide programs at Hilton, the Rezidor Hotel Group, Fairmont, Kimpton, Marriott, and Starwood hotels and others, prove that upscale properties can be responsible environmental stewards. Choosing comfortable, yet basic accommodations when possible is an easy way to conserve local resources.
"You don't have to go to some exotic location to be an eco-tourist and help the environment," says Josh Dorfman, author, The Lazy Environmentalist. "Live simply, recycle, reuse, conserve energy wherever you are and wherever you travel. You don't have to go to the rain forest to help save the rain forest. Choosing a green hotel or opting for the small inn over the mega-resort helps. It's all about the choices we make—and where we stay is a choice we can all make when we travel."
12. Survey "Sense of Place" Responsible travel is not just about recycling garbage and turning the light switch off when you leave your room, it is also about supporting hotels, lodges, and resorts that enhance sense of place and help protect the character and authenticity of a destination, says Costas Christ, president of the Adventure Council and founding member and former chairman of the board of the International Ecotourism Society.
Christ conducts this "sense of place" test each time he walks into a hotel he hasn't stayed in before.
"Standing in the hotel lobby and imagining that I appeared there magically, I look around me," he explains. "If I cannot figure out what country I am in, or worse yet, what continent I am on, I head for the door."
The National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations provides links to tour, transportation, lodging, culture, and heritage travel resources for people seeking a more authentic travel experience. Included is the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Historic Hotels of America (HHA), where you can book a room at one of more than 200 HHA hotels and resorts in the United States, or at a partner property in Europe or Mexico.
Properties are selected for HHA designation based on historic integrity, architecture, and ambience. Accommodations range from rustic to refined, and rates range from $99 per night at the LaSalle Hotel in Bryan, Texas, to $339 per night for a night in a regular room at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.
13. Ask About Composting Hotels and restaurants with composting programs keep tons of organic waste, such as food scraps and paper-based cartons with food residue, out of landfills. Instead, that waste is transformed into humus, an organic material used in landscaping, potting soil, and in the agriculture industry.
"We started a composting program at the Comfort Inn and Suites Airport/Boston that is eliminating about 60 tons from the waste chain. And this is only a select-service hotel offering a continental breakfast," says Tedd Saunders, owner of Boston's Lenox Hotel and Comfort Inn & Suites Airport/Boston. "With a large hotel, composting would be hundreds of tons per year. It sounds pretty incredible that all of that is currently going to waste, but it is in most places."
The San Francisco Marriott Hotel instituted a composting program in 2004, which currently keeps about one million pounds of food waste out of the city's landfill each year. Instead, the food scraps and other organic waste generated by hotel guests, kitchens, and staff is taken to an organic composting facility where it's converted into nutrient-rich mulch.
