"Green" Travel Might - or Might Not - be Dead
Christopher Elliot, a travel writer for MSNBC, has declared green travel dead. Well. That would be disappointing. Mr. Elliott's point, and it's a good one, is that we shouldn't pay a premium to companies who are doing the right thing -- they should just do it. He also points out that bragging about a simple recycling program, or that a hotel installed energy efficient lightbulbs is just lame. And he says that companies should stop using their green practices in their marketing efforts.
In some ways I completely agree with him. Travelers should absolutely take into account the green activities, and history, of a hotel, airline or resort before you decide to patronize them. But unlike Mr. Elliott, I like it when they call themselves green and plaster their efforts all over the website. Because, when they make their efforts public, it's that much easier for me to judge them!
I also write for the travel site UpTake. Occasionally I'll do a round up of green hotels in a city, like Boston or San Francisco. You would be amazed at how many hotels are just getting started on their green-ovations, and yet believe they are doing a great job.
Some will boast about brand new recycling programs, or implementing the (not at all) novel idea of keeping your towels and sheets for the whole weekend to save water. Others clearly don't have an official environmental policy at all. Those hotels are not going to get my business, and I'm grateful to them for revealing their weaknesses, although I'm sure that wasn't their intention.
But there are other hotels, like the Hotel Carlton in San Francisco, that have an excellent record of environmental responsibility. On their website they boast about their partnership with Carbonfund.org, and being one of the few hotels in the city with solar panels on the roof.
It will be a great world when we can assume that airlines are offsetting the carbon they produce, and that hotels are using all natural cleaners. But until that day, reading that a company does these things helps me make an informed decision about whether or not to spend my money with them.
It's smart for the management of responsible companies to use these things in their marketing materials, and I hope they continue to do so. In fact, when I can't find information about green practices on a hotel site, I assume it's because they just don't have any.
Long live green travel, and the disclosure that goes with it!
But there are other hotels, like the Hotel Carlton in San Francisco, that have an excellent record of environmental responsibility. On their website they boast about their partnership with Carbonfund.org, and being one of the few hotels in the city with solar panels on the roof.
It will be a great world when we can assume that airlines are offsetting the carbon they produce, and that hotels are using all natural cleaners. But until that day, reading that a company does these things helps me make an informed decision about whether or not to spend my money with them.
It's smart for the management of responsible companies to use these things in their marketing materials, and I hope they continue to do so. In fact, when I can't find information about green practices on a hotel site, I assume it's because they just don't have any.
Long live green travel, and the disclosure that goes with it!
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