We discussed the hanging of the towels and the turning off of the lights over a shrimp dinner that night at some tourist trap. I remember my mom saying that if we all do a little, we can do a lot. So I thought it was great when I heard of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s new executive order that requires state agencies and departments to hold meetings and conferences at lodgings that meet the new Florida Green Lodging standards.

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Find a green hotel. While you might not be able to find a LEED rated hotel, you’ll more than likely be able to find a place with environmentally responsible practices. There are websites such as the Green Hotels Association, Sustainable Travel International, and The International Ecotourism Society that list member hotels committed to green. However, just because a hotel hasn’t joined these or other associations doesn’t mean they haven’t implemented environmental policies. Make a few phone calls to hotels you are considering before you book to find out what their environmental practices are. If you’re making international travel plans or there isn’t a toll-free number, try e-mailing. Things to ask about include water conservation measures, and waste and recycling policies.

Do your part. Turn off the television, room lights and the AC when you leave. Don’t keep the water running, and don’t hoard the free soaps and shampoos.

Communicate with housekeeping. Many hotels provide information cards on nightstands or in the bathroom reminding guests of their energy and water saving policies. Doing simple things such as leaving the towels on the floor indicates to the housekeeping staff that you would like new ones. If the place you’re staying doesn’t have this policy, call the front desk to let them know you would like your room serviced, but that you don’t need fresh sheets or towels.

Give positive feedback. If your hotel does offer these type of services tell them how much you appreciate it. If they don’t, write a letter or e-mail expressing that these features are important to you and will influence your accommodation decisions in the future. Sometimes this is the only way hotel management will find out if their customers care about environmentally responsible practices.

Ceres - Green Hotel Initiative

National Geographic - Green Guide

Sustainable Travel International

Green Hotels Association

The International Ecotourism Society

More information on eco-travel from Green Options:

Daily Tip: Green Hotel Detectives

Green Places for Travelers

Traveling Green Is Getting Easier

The Green Options Interview: Jeff Lazar, JLF/Lone Meadow

Green Options: Why did you begin Lone Meadow?

Jeff Lazar: We have a primarily domestic manufacturing base in Southern California and in North Carolina. I had been thinking for a few years about what that means and how to take advantage of that opportunity, and what can be done better in moving forward. We wanted to tie in our manufacturing goals, which was to produce the highest quality product available and align it with my personal sensibilities - what it means to manufacture in a clean, and sustainable kind of environment.

Looking at that opportunity to improve ourselves would ultimately send a message to our industry that we have to do a whole lot better in terms of what we do for our consumers, which are the hotel guests and hotel properties. The hospitality furntiture manufacturing industry - and the hospitality industry in general in the United States - is light years behind the other markets for thinking productively about sustainable living standards.

GO: Do you feel that is changing or is there still resistance within the industry that is keeping it from moving towards more sustainable ways?

JL: There's certainly awareness of the movement. Because of all of the media and publicity around the issue, and more consumer interest and awareness of creating more sustainable environments, there is some progress. However, I would caution that the industry is still very, very far behind. For example, we have now gone to a major trade show for the third year in a row since I first introduced Lone Meadow in 2005, and we're the only seating manufacturer in the industry that is not only talking about sustainable hospitality seating, but actually acting on it. That absolutely boggles my mind. We're the only one in a trade show with thousands of vendors. So there is some movement, but I just think it is very slow to come.

GO: Why is that? Is it a perception that green is too expensive?

JL: Certainly the cost components are there. More importantly I think the ethical motivation on the part of manufacturers and buyers is slow to come. What I mean by that is if the research is done, if time is taken by each of the parties to really scope this out, they will find that the costs are just pretty much apples to apples. And in our case we've been able to prove they're virtually apples to apples so that you take that cost component out of the equation.

GO: So you're saying that the Lone Meadow line is pretty much equivalent in pricing to conventional hospitality seating lines?

JL: That is correct. It is not exactly equal but it is very close.

GO: Another common perception about green design, at least until recently, is that it isn't as aesthetically pleasing. Can you talk about the design aspect of the Lone Meadow line.

JL: Part of the concept of Lone Meadow was to not compromise in any way, shape or form the design, quality, comfort, style of the product. So part of the goal or the vision of Lone Meadow was to enhance and even go beyond what we've done with JLF and offer something that is even a better product. So you take any kind of concern or cost components out of the equation - we want to be thinking about all of the enhancements. Coming from a design influence in furniture is to enhance and attract the design community and ultimately the buyers for our product.

GO: Was it difficult for you to incorporate green elements into the produciton of this line?

JL: In some ways yes, and in some ways no. What I mean by that is it didn't take a whole lot to be able to do the research to find lumber suppliers that offer sustainable lumber. There's no cost attached to that. There's no cost added to offer water based finishes as opposed to oil based finishes, and there's no quality impact for either of those two elements or features. So my point is with a little bit of effort and thought a lot of the components that come with green or sustinable seating don't have to cost more.

So then you look at the marketplace and say your primary market is the design community; who will specify or select your products for their hotels? In order to attract them to your product you have to come up with that "Wow" factor on the design side. You can't minimize that. That was a very primary goal of mine: to ensure that the designer will see a fantastic product. With Lone Meadow, we were able to introduce the benefit of it being a fully or near fully sustainable piece of furniture. That becomes the added benefit, an enhancement, and it's a win-win on all sorts of fronts.

GO: Can you talk a little bit about the sustainable features of your line.

JL: First of all, I know some of your readers they may cringe at SFI [Sustainable Forestry Initiative]. We do also offer FSC [Forest Stewardship Council] certified lumber, but when you're dealing with hospitality manufacturing, oftentimes if we're doing 500 rooms of furniture the purchases are so large that there aren't always a lot of avenues yet availalble to purchase that kind of lumber - FSC, as opposed to SFI.

Having said that, we use SFI certified lumber which gives the designer and owner a sustainable solution for lumber which comes from replenished, or managed forests. We use water-based finishes, which is the lowest VOC [volatile organic compound] emitting finish that you can manufacture with and have it hold up under hospitality construction and standards.

We offer a recycled foam. It's called the Lone Meadow Integrity + Foam system. That gives the buyer a sustainable story for foam which is probably the most difficult area to create a sustainable story. Foam is an oil-based product and is highly toxic, so it is a big problem in our field that hasn't been solved yet, but we did find one supplier who offers recycled foam. It also gives the buyer added durability because it is twice the durability as conventional foam. We call it a foam system because we've created a seating system that is equally as comfortable and soft sitting as conventional foam.

All of our steel clips, springs, staples are made from reused first consumer steel products and materials. One-hundred percent of our seating is upholstered using Designtex sustainable fabrics.

GO: The hospitality industry is huge, but how does it impact the average consumer?

JL: The hospitality includes places like restaurants, hotels, resorts and time shares. The hotel market alone has been a booming industry over the past ten years. For example, think about Las Vegas and the enormity of that hotel environment and how many properties are still going up there. When you think of that volume of construction and the amount of materials that go into these 4000 room properties and how much furniture they need, you can start to think about the amount of materials and processes involved in their construction, installation or completion of that number of rooms and casino spaces, and the impact of that amount of construction has on the environment in a whole variety of ways - energy consumption, material consumption, and processes finishes, you name it.

As consumers, we have to think about what kind of effect that has on our environment. That's not to say that I think in terms of anti-growth, but i think more along the lines of smart growth, intelligent growth so that we have better systems and methods of being able to continue build and prosper. Las Vegas is moving in that direction with the new MGM development that is wholly dedicated to sustainable development and manufacturing.

GO: So if more people in the hospitality industry were doing what you're doing with Lone Meadow, that would really have effect on a large scale.

JL: Absolutely. Recreational travel continues to be a growth industry. My understanding is that destination travel is at an all time high. Travel is often a time of reflection and relaxation for people, so it would be natural for them to think about things that are beyond just their day to day concerns.

A portion of the profits from Lone Meadow is donated to The Nature Conservancy.

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

As Jess Sand recently covered here on Green Options, there are ways to green your travel. When considering hotels for your next trip, you might want to jump online and visit the Green Hotels Association site to check out their list of member hotels. You might also want to swing by Environmentally Friendly Hotels, a site that rates the green-ness of a hotel based on user submitted information. (That means that some of the info might need to be verified by you before accepting it as correct.) Some states even have their own certification programs.

But let's face it - you just might not be able to stay in one of these hotels, be it for price, location, or availability. So what else can you do? Most hotels these days have implemented some sort of green policies such as not washing the towels and sheets everyday for guests staying multiple days. We recommend that you test them on whatever policies they have committed themselves to.

If the hotel tells you that if you hang up your towel to dry, they will not wash it - try it. Hang up that towel and see what happens. We've seen it work, and we've seen it fail horribly. If the hotel isn't even following the very basic water & energy saving practices that they have posted in the rooms, call them on it. Complain to the manager, write letters, make a stink. You might also want to send them some recommended guidelines on how to go green. Of course, one option would be to keep that "Privacy Please" sign on your door - maybe that would save even more energy.

Finally, don't forget to be green in your actions, as well. Make sure to shut off all of the lights and a/c (or raise the temperature, at least) when you leave the room. Keep your showers short, just as you would at home. Don't over use just because you won't get the utility bill!

Rebecca says: I stayed in a hotel this weekend and tried the ol' hang up the towels trick. It worked! I shouldn't sound so surprised, but I had a bad experience last year where my towels were washed. A month an a half after sending in my complaint I received a call from the hotel telling me that I was the first person they'd ever spoken to that was mad because my room was cleaned. They told me, however, that they would review the green policies with their cleaning staff and hope that it wouldn't happen again.