I recently spent the night at a hotel whose corporate website declares their commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility, and was pleased to see this commitment in action.
There were cards in the room that explained how much energy is consumed when towels and bedding are washed every day and outlined the procedure to follow if you wish to reuse these items. Since I was only staying one night, it wasn’t relevant to my stay, but I was happy to see it none the less.
Our room was equipped with china coffee mugs and real glassware, which is much more pleasant to use than disposables, in addition to reducing waste.
When we checked in, the climate control in our room was set to Fan Only, and we had the ability to adjust the settings and even to turn it off and open the window. They even used energy-saving light bulbs!
Overall, I felt it was a good reflection of the company’s stated policy and satisfied my personal environmental concerns as well.
It was a marked contrast to my stay at a different location of that same hotel a few weeks earlier. Upon arrival, I noticed a poster in the lobby stating that the hotel had implemented green initiatives, but I can only hope that the owner-operator of that location is purchasing carbon offsets, because that poster was the only indication of eco-awareness that I saw.
There was nothing in the rooms to indicate how to request that the maid leave your sheets and towels in place for you to reuse, or even to suggest that this was an option. The room was equipped with paper cups and Styrofoam coffee cups, and this bothered me not only on an environmental level, but on a comfort level. When I pay to stay at a hotel, I expect it to be at least as nice as home, if not nicer. Throwaway dishes just don’t cut it!
To top it off, the air conditioning was cranked so high that the room was freezing cold, and looking out the window, you could see the curtains blowing in the other vacant rooms as if there was a tornado in there.
As a business owner, this experience reinforced how important it is that we do what we say we are going to do, whether it’s about environmental responsibility or anything else. Customers may or may not care whether you donate a portion of your income to charity, but if you say that you do, you’d better do it! Otherwise, it’s better to say nothing at all.
Unless your heart, your soul, and your whole being are behind every decision you make, the words from your mouth will be empty, and each action will be meaningless.
~ Author unknown
How about you? Do you walk the walk, or do you just talk the talk?
Photo copyright 2009 Janet Barclay
