How to Be an Eco-Guest
by To be seen to be environmentally friendly is everything these days and all of us now who profess to be responsible citizens of the world now try and run our lives as frugally as possible. Our homes all have some homage to environmentalism be it a rain water butt, solar panels or even a wind turbine.
But that is at home. What happens when you go away on holiday or on business and book into a hotel? Many of us seem to forget our obligations to the planet and look to enjoy all the blatant waste and excess that we have abandoned in our own homes. But environmentalism is a whole life creed and we should encourage our hotels to be eco-friendly not be a ghastly reminder of previous dissipation.
Below I give 5 tips for the responsible hotel guest. Try them next time you are a guest in one. I cannot say you will be very popular but you can pat yourself on the back!
First thing to do is to make sure that you ask the management what their recycling policy is and be prepared to give praise where deserved but also to point out where improvements can be made.
If the hotel is in an environmentally sensitive area then take time to see how well it adapts to its surroundings and again be prepared to praise or comment as appropriate. Quite often you will be surprised at how grateful your hosts are for your interest.
Keep an eye out for the minimum consumption of materials both in the construction of the hotel, the furnishing of your room and what is served in the restaurant. See that they resource local produce and construction techniques. Satisfy yourself that the establishment is a source of benefit to the local economy. Do they employ local labour? Do they source local produce? Ask if your morning scrambled eggs were laid nearby. Frequently the hotels in the Middle East seem to be staffed entirely by persons from the Indian sub-continent. This should be commented upon. However, I would forgive you if you overlooked this situation in English hotels. Such is the dire nature of English standards of service to hand it over to Spaniards is simply good sense!
Is there a proactive environmental policy in the hotel? Do they ask you to cooperate on saving the laundering of towels for example? If not suggest that they adopt one.
What I am not suggesting is that we should reintroduce in to the hotel industry hard beds and dreadful food. Being eco-friendly does not mean abandoning comforts and good service in fact quite often it is the reverse. The use of rain water in baths, home grown vegetables and recycled paper, local meats and staff who can answer your questions as to what is the name of that river; these add to a hotel experience not detract from it.
So remember, when you go away from home do not leave your environmentalism behind!
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