Category: Random Thoughts
Balancing Choices in Your Life
I just returned from a ten-day car trip. We drove my hybrid SUV -- a Mercury Mariner -- to San Antonio and back to western Colorado. What a comfortable car it was to for drive such a long distance; it was much more comfortable than my Forester had been (and I loved that car). Since this Mariner is a relatively new car to me I enjoyed learning about its various features, but mostly the balance between good gas mileage and speed.
Environmentally friendly hotels, restaurants and other hospitality venues have tough choices to make in greening their operations. My hybrid SUV taught me more about that than I had been aware before. It's your turn to learn how to think about the best way to help green the hospitality industry.
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Why Environmentally Friendly Hotels
Environmentally friendly hotels not only save money for the owner/manager, but also resources for the world, while at the same time letting their guests continue doing good things for the environment. Many guests will be attracted to the green hotel just because it is taking environmentally friendly steps. Whether it's water or energy conservation, recycling, or reducing the consumption of natural resources through bulk amenities and newspaper programs, a positive impact can be made through simple steps.
People who consider themselves very "environmentally aware" take special care to at least conserve water and energy, and to recycle. But when they travel, many of these same people either leave their environmentalism at home or figure they just have to put up with extreme waste in hotels. It doesn't have to be that way. I challenge you to take your environmental action on the road with you, and to not accept hotel waste anymore.
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Listen to the Canary's Song
| Indoor air quality has deteriorated over the past few decades, to the point that chemical sensitivities and allergies are higher than ever before. People with sensitivities are illustrating how bad the air is and should be paid attention to. Improving indoor air quality will help not only the guests in your hospitality venue, but also the employees. |
Recently I attended a Natural Home Building Expo, acting as emcee for the panel discussion of builders. In addition to meeting lots of wonderful people pushing the envelope on healthy building practices, I had my eyes open to an area that I was aware of, but not sensitive enough to (please excuse my pun!) -- chemically sensitive people. And I'd like to expand that category of canaries to people sensitive to a wide range of things found in hospitality venues, not just chemicals.
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Environmental Choices
Environmental issues face us daily and our choices aren't always easy, and sometimes it's really a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils. What Christmas tree choice do you make: artificial, live -- or none? Where do you stand on the paper versus cloth napkins? Do you always use recycled paper, or do you sometimes go with virgin paper? And the bigger issues like air conditioners, and energy and water conservation measures? Balance the various aspects going into your decisions and do the best you can. Being an environmentally active person isn't easy, but it is important.
A recent article about fresh-cut versus artificial Christmas trees started me thinking about the environmental choices we face each day, all day. There are so many variables going into each decision that there's rarely one right conclusion for any question. That's comforting to me because it acknowledges our different needs and realities, and it's discouraging because it takes the black and white out of life that can make life seem easier.
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Food Composting
An article I saw about Massachusetts grocers working with the state's Department of Environmental Protection to recycle organic fruit, vegetable, floral, and deli wastes, as well as waxed paper and cardboard, spurred me to research the topic more. What I found was interesting, piquing a thought about food service establishments working with grocers to compost vegetable matter to turn into nutrient rich soil products, which are used as a fertiliver and soil amendment.
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Why Sustainable Travel & Tourism?
By Brian T. Mullis, Sustainable Travel
Tourism is arguably the world's largest industry. It generates about 10 percent of total world GDP (gross domestic product) and employs over 10 percent of the global workforce, and it's on the verge of tremendous growth. In 2004, there were 760 million international tourism arrivals -- an increase of 10 percent over 2003 and a figure that the World Tourism Organization expects to reach one billion by 2010.(1)
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Hospitality is a Waste
One average hotel (150 guestrooms) uses as many resources in one week as 100 families do in one year. Multiply that consumption by the number of hotels world-wide, add all the other hospitality businesses, and you have abundant consumption. Inevitably, much of that consumption is waste. "Green" hospitality practices greatly reduce both consumption and waste, reducing environmental issues about the industry. Consumers are starting to demand that hospitality business, which includes restaurants, conference centers, visitor centers, amusement parks, cruise ships, tour companies, and tourist attractions, as well as hotels, be more conserving. The hospitality industry is huge, with an associated huge impact on the planet.
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Incentivise Environmental Action
Part of my soapbox for ECOnomically Sound is that those in the hospitality industry need to take action to become green before the government regulates environmental programs. I have a clue now as to why so many in the hospitality industry aren’t being progressive in this area. Even with the financial savings associated with being a green restaurant, a green hotel, or any other green hospitality property there doesn't seem to be enough incentive and the U.S. government doesn’t give incentives for taking green steps. I hope our government offers incentives soon so there won’t be a need to regulate.
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"Ethical Marketplace", the PBS series
PBS will be airing �Ethical Marketplace� starting March 15 (though check your local programming because I saw mention of a January start date too). It's a weekly half-hour program dedicated to reporting on the people, companies, and governments who are redefining success with socially and environmentally responsible lifestyles, business practices, and investments. "Ethical Marketplace" will cover real-life stories that demonstrate an increasingly popular standard of corporate citizenship, measured by a triple bottom line -- people profit, and planet.
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An Arguement for Natural Pest Control
Usually conversations about using a natural approach to pest control are geared around the health and well being of the people and animals in the area being managed -- like a restaurant, hotel, or even cruise ship. There is always concern about the affects on humans when a chemical approach to pest control is used, as there should be.
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Down the Drain
I drink lots of water, even when I'm eating in a restaurant. Most of the people I know don't drink much water, but instead opt for tea, coffee or sodas. So when a community is feeling the pinch of water due to drought, or other cause of a water shortage, restaurants often will provide water for their patrons upon request.
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To Foam, or Not to Foam
...that's not my question. It's a no-brainer for me to use insulated paper cups, cardboard to-go boxes, and aluminum to-go boxes when buying coffee or taking left overs. These are the most environmentally sensitive options to use because of their ease in being recycled, their quick decomposition, and not relying on petrochemicals in the material during production.
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Socially Responsible Coffee
Presently Starbucks procures about 10% of its coffee from growers who provide socially responsible (organic, bird- friendly-shade-grown coffee) coffee beans. They have recently announced that 60% of the coffee they sell in their stores will be fair-trade coffee by 2007. And Starbucks isn't the only one going down this path. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has been selling Fair Trade, organic coffee for years.
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