Is your hotel eco-friendly?

A question to ask when you're searching for a hotel is whether the hotel is Eco-friendly?

What does this mean?

It means the hotel is conscious of the environment and the environmental hazards a hotel can create from excess waste. For example, does the hotel recycle used goods or for that matter does the hotel purchase recycled items to use within the hotel (such as recycled toilet paper)?

Is the detergent the hotels uses biodegradable? (A hotel washes thousands of towels, and bed lines per year making this a serious question). What is the hotel policy on towels? Do they ask hotel guests to reuse their towels and linens to save on water and detergent or do they blindly replace everything (even re-washing clean towels)?

Even consider whether the hotel uses energy efficient light bulbs. It may seem insignificant but a hotel business may use hundreds of thousands of light bulbs per year making energy efficiency a legitimate question.

Many local, regional and national organizations give hotels a Eco-friendly or 'Green' rating. Ask you next hotel how they rate.

If nothing else it may raise hotel awareness and encourage the hotel establishment to consider the environment and recycling.

In the end, hotel guests and their money determine what priorities are important to hotels. Make the environment a priority at your favorite hotels.