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Florida's Hotels Encouraged to Go Green
| Conservation of water and energy, as well as air quality, are some of the features of the Florida Green Lodging Program. There are a variety of environmental issues that the state of Florida is addressing through its lodging program because they recognize that if the environment, the feature that attracts so many tourists to spend lots of money, is destroyed then tourism is destroyed too. That's a reality everywhere. If tourism is a major industry in a state, that state had better start protecting the environment by implementing a green hotel program along with other green programs. |
What makes a hotel green? That was a question asked me recently by an environmental journalist who was doing an article on green hotels; specifically Florida's green hotel program.
We talked at length about what constitutes a green hotel (water and energy conservation, waste reduction, air quality), whether there was any regulatory requirement for environmental action (who would make sure that hotels were doing the green things they promoted), and why hotels take green measures (save money and do something good for the environment). Ray Burger of Pineapple Hospitality and Peter Goren, environmental manager of Florida's Department of Environmental Protection who oversees the Green Lodging Program, had lots of valuable information for the journalist.
There are presently 12 certified properties in Florida's program and 13 applicants going through the certification process. The focus of the program is to protect the environment to protect the tourist industry. While hotels are protecting the environment they are also saving money. The hotels save energy and water, and recycle. The program not only helps the hotels achieve those goals but also helps visitors find those environmentally active hotels so the visitor can be involved in conserving water and energy, and recycling.
The Florida Green Lodging Program does more than just help hotels conserve and recycle, it also strives for improved air quality and the reduced use of toxic cleaners. Regular maintenance of air conditioners not only helps reduce energy consumption but also helps improve air quality.
Florida has one of the few state green hotel programs in the nation. Even states that have green hotel programs don't always have inspections to ensure compliance. It seems to me that public pressure will be the biggest determining factor in keeping green hotels green. If a hotel claims to take green action, and then doesn't follow through, the public will speak up. Hotel's don't need bad publicity like that.
There are hotels who are taking green action who don't promote their environmental actions. And there are hotels who promote green actions who don't take those advertised environmental steps. I've seen this sort of advertising before, with hotels claiming to be bed and breakfasts because they serve breakfast to their overnight guests. It's happening with the greening of the hospitality industry too, where hotels claim green actions that they don't ensure happen. I see that approach as being positive, in a perverse way; if a hotel owner or manager thinks having a certain business approach (bed and breakfast, green hotel, etc) is good for business, they promote it -- even if it's a stretch of their reality. I see it as good news for green hotel programs because it tells me that hotels are starting to see the benefits of being environmentally sensitive.
The article can be found at the Tallahassee Democrat. You can find Florida's green hotels, along with over 1500 other green hotels from around the world at Best Green Hotels.
Posted by Kit Cassingham
