Photo Credit: State of Michigan
Eco-tourisim is a growing field, but it's not the only sector where people want to find a green option when they need travel accommodations. Whether they are traveling for business or for recreation, even if they aren't headed to an eco-destination, travellers need a place to stay. And while the Building Design + Construction magazine's 2006 white paper on green building suggested that the hospitality industry was "missing an opportunity" by lagging other construction sectors in green building, there are some places that are beginning to offer greener places to stay.
I started looking into this when a developer in New York City sent out an announcement concerning their plans to build a hotel with a range of green features, including striving for LEED Gold certification. The press material also speaks of organic cotton sheets and other amenities. Unfortunately, this project is still more than a year from completion, and I do not like to write about proposed or incomplete projects, because they can so often fail to meet the expectations, or the final product does not match what was originally promised. And LEED certification is no guarantee that the building or its rooms will be attractive either.
But, perhaps even more important than having a place to stay that was built green, there are programs that recognize lodgings that are operated in a green manner. The first such program I learned of is in my home state, where green tourisim is a major industry in the northern half of the state, and around the many lakes throughout the state. The State of Michigan has initiated a Green Lodging Michigan program which "encourages hotels, resorts, motels, and bed & breakfast facilities to implement environmental initiatives and cost-saving ‘green' practices to conserve energy, reduce water consumption, protect air quality, reduce waste, and participate in environmentally preferred purchasing."
Michigan's program is only a few months old, but has already added almost a dozen locations, ranging from small Bed-and-Breakfasts to corporate hotel chain locations, to a ski and golf resort. The State of California has over 100 places listed on its Green lodging website, and Vermont and Florida are also leaders in green lodging programs.
Green lodging facilities promote improved indoor air quality, energy efficiency, waste reduction, water conservation, and improved programs for communication, education and purchasing. These aspects are reflected in such ways as having water saving fixtures, energy efficient lighting, Energy Star appliances, proper insulation, and materials recycling. Hazardous and toxic cleaning materials are reduced or eliminated altogether. Most facilities are also smoke-free.
There is also a Green Hotels Association with a list of members across the globe (though often just one or two locations in any state or country). In Canada, the Hotel Association of Canada has a Green Key Eco-Rating Program that rates hotels on their energy and environmental operation, much like other building certification programs. As part of its support for the program, the Canadian government requires many of its employees to stay at Green Key hotels.
At the far extreme, there are some resorts that take themselves and their green attitude a bit too seriously. I came across one location about a year ago that used green as a justification for their no children policy: "The building design and fragile ecosystem are not conducive to young children or pets." If the ecology of the location is so fragile that children should not be there, maybe you ought to re-think whether you should be there either. A friend of mine wonderfully summed it up this way: "I think the concern is that with children constantly playing on the rock formations, they could be eroded down to nothing in as little as 10,000 years. Also, children like to throw stones into the water, and when you think how long it took for those stones to actually make it to shore, such actions are violative of the stones' geo/ecological rights and can lead to serious self-esteem issues, not to mention the forced involuntary water displacement that is inflicted on the lake."
Green lodging can be a lot less pretentious and a lot more useful for everyone. Give some consideration to where you are going to stay as you make your summer travel plans. Even if you aren't going to be an eco-tourist, your travels can still be a little bit greener with green lodging facilities.
Links:
State of Michigan Green Lodging brochure (PDF)
Michigan's Tips for Travelers
[...] eco-friendly accommodations, as the British Tourism Board has launched a new program for certifying “green” hotels. This post was originally published on Tuesday, April 29, [...]