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.
Green hospitality is business that serves people while paying attention to its environmental impact, focusing on being more environmentally friendly. Hospitality is defined as the cordial and generous reception of guests. Generous often means providing more than the guest would use or need – as in the way of food, amenities, climate control, newspapers, etc. Generous should mean the availability of all that your guests can use or need without wasting resources.
Examples of excessive consummation, and alternatives, include having the lights on all the time (which is unavoidable for safety and security reasons), but efficient lighting can be used. Changing sheets daily (wasting water, electricity soap and manpower); when less frequent changes would suffice. Serving heaping amounts of food (much of which gets thrown away rather than composted or given to farmers), when reduced portions will satisfy guests. Providing individual toiletries (wasting the product and packaging), while offering them from refillable dispensers conserves. Using foam to-go containers (adding unnecessarily to landfills), when recyclable or compostable containers are available. Other hospitality businesses can cue from these ideas to see how their consumption is contributing to the waste stream.
Why is green hospitality important? Land, water, and energy are all of limited supply. Land is part of the delicate balance of our planet; we can’t continue dumping on it or destroying it without suffering unknown ramifications. Reduce water and electric consumption so we don't run create critically low supplies; of all of the water on the planet, only .007-.009% is usable for our consumption. Look at the earth as a system of finite resources rather than one of infinite resources to help you understand the importance of taking care of what we have.
What can the hospitality industry do to be conserving and lighten their step on the environment? Develop and implement programs that will reduce consumption, thereby saving money. Educate employees and guests. Develop and implement a program to sell or donate unwanted furnishings, fixtures, and equipment, keeping them out of the landfills and putting them in the hands of businesses and people who will appreciate them. If they take one green step for a substantial impact; five or ten steps gives tremendous impact.
What can consumers do to be conserving and lighten their step on the environment? Demand conservation from hospitality venues. Choose “green” when you have the option, and tell businesses why you are and are not doing business with them. Educate the hospitality industry to encourage more action.
