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Green Innkeeping

Being Environmentally Sensitive


"Unless someone like you cares a whole lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." --From Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

       The hospitality industry consumes vast amounts of resources. A typical hotel purchases more products/resources in one week than 100 families do in one year. A B&B is smaller than a hotel of course, but the consumption pattern holds the same; perhaps a B&B purchases as much in one week as one family does in one year. By taking steps to run a green inn you can make a difference in preserving natural resources and the environment. Pay attention to the Five Rs -- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Renewable and Rethink -- as you green your B&B inn. Or better yet, read Cradle to Cradle, by William McDonough and Michael Braungart, to challenge our present concept of the Five Rs and replace it with a new paradigm of environmental soundness.


       For a more in-depth approach to running a green hospitality venue bookmark EcoNomically Sound where you can read about different ideas on how to green your property. The site is geared toward all aspects of the hospitality industry: hotels, restaurants, cruise ships, B&B inns, spas, resorts, golf courses, etc. You can get involved in green hospitality discussions on EcoNomically Sound's comments. Participating in the EcoNomically Sound disscussions is your chance to learn, share and be part of a growing green movement.

       Now take a look at EnvironmentallyFriendlyHotels.com for specific actions you can take as you green your B&B, and make it a more sustainable operation. Don't hesitate to submit your B&B for inclusion on that site as well. Participate in the Featured Hotel program that's available on the site to help highlight your listed property. While you're at it, carry the Green Hotel message with you everywhere with the stainless steel water bottle available from the site.


Video of Sheet ad Towel Reuse Program Discussion

"The ultimate test of man's conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard." --Gaylord Nelson, former governor of Wisconsin, founder of Earth Day

"The frog does not drink up the pond in which it lives." --Chinese Proverb



Reduce your use of resources (water, natural gas/propane, electricity, plastic, and paper) in the bathrooms, kitchen, yard, and around the house.
  • Use flow restrictors in your shower heads and sink faucets
  • Retrofit bathrooms with low-flush toilets (there are new toilets on the market that actually work well the first time! I have love my Caroma dual-flush toilets.)
  • Plant xeric gardens so the plants native to your location can thrive on what water nature provides rather than your outdoor faucets provide
  • Using energy efficient furnaces and appliances saves electricity
  • Install compact fluorescent light bulbs as another electricity saving step
  • Pre-cycle by buying products that have minimal packaging and then strive to buy products in more highly-recyclable containers like glass and metal
  • Save paper by not providing each guestroom with a morning paper, print on the front and back of your office paper, and only subscribe to magazines you actually want and read


"Treat the Earth well. It was not given to you by your parents. It was loaned to you by your children." --Kenyan Proverb

"Modern Society will find no solution to the ecological problem unless it takes a serious look at its lifestyles." --Pope John Paul II


Reuse products as much as you can.
  • Donate to a shelter your sheets and towels when they wear out, or use them for rags
  • Repair appliances that break rather than toss them and buy new ones
  • Buy recycled products whenever possible


"It is our collective and individual responsibility to protect and nurture the global family, to support its weaker members and to preserve and tend to the environment in which we all live." --Dalai Lama

"Why is it that we judge development on what we have built rather than what we have preserved? We strive to protect what was built by man, but give little thought to protecting what was made by God." --Juanito G. Cambangay, Provincial Planning Officer Bohol Province, Philippines


Recycle as much as possible, diverting many items from landfills helps save the planet from toxic waste and wasting land.
  • Compost food scraps either into your compost bin or find someone who wants to recycle them for you
  • Recycle the paper, plastic, glass, carboard, and metal you can
  • Donating your sheets and towels to a shelter is recycling too


"The Materials of wealth are in the earth, in the seas, and in their natural and unaided productions." --Daniel Webster, (1782-1852) remarks in the US Senate, March 12, 1838.

A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people." --President Franklin Roosevelt


Renewable resources are better choices than non-renewable. Consider what the products you choose to use in building your house and running your inn do to the earth.

  • Granite and stone looks great in your house and yard, but they aren't renewable.
  • Crushed rock is generally the biproduct of quarrying (quarries are reclaimed after the project is complete) while river rock is most often mined from riverbeds.
  • Rainforest woods and old-growth forest woods are essentially non-renewable unlike fast growing trees, bamboo, and cork.
  • Petroleum-based fuels are not renewable, though easily and cost effectively available, while alternative fuels (solar, wind, water, and geothermal) are quite renewable though have a slow payback period.

"In the end, our society will be defined not only by what we create, but by what we refuse to destroy." --John Sawhill, from the Nature Conservancy

Rethink your purchasing and consumption habits. How can you conserve resources through your purchasing habits?

  • Buy furniture and supplies from second hand stores and garage sales.
  • Get only the food supplies you can use, don't overbuy and throw unused food away.
  • Repair equipment and appliances, rather than buying new ones.
  • How can you reduce your reliance on foreign oil? Can you install renewable energy generation? Can you drive less by carpooling, mass transit, or alternative modes?


"We shall never achieve harmony with land, any more than we shall achieve absolute justice or liberty for people. In these higher aspirations, the important thing is not to achieve but to strive." --Aldo Leopold



       My passion for the environment, blended with my passion for the hospitality industry, has finally led me to create this page as a resource for those who want to be greener but don't know where to start. Take one step at a time in your green quest, if you can't take more steps. Promote your green steps on your website, on your brochure, and around your B&B inn. Let those guests who want to support green innkeepers find you and enjoy a green vacation. Make your green action part of your market niche. To help you with your green action, here are some resources for you.



   Resources

"We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using nature's inexhaustible sources of energy - sun, wind and tide. I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that." --Thomas Alva Edison


              Air Quality Guidance: articles about air purifiers and air filters to help you decide the best approach for you in cleaning the air you breathe.
              Mattress Guidance: articles about buying environmentally sound mattresses that will not only be good for the environment but your guests as well.
              Water Quality Guidance: articles about water pollution and water filters/purifiers, and various issues to help you decide how clean and abundant you want the water you use.

          Products

                * Various Green Products

                * Cleaning Supplies

                * International Green Lodging Directories


                * Products & Programs for Hospitality

              Better World Club, the travel club for environmentally and socially responsible people.
              GreenSuites, offering a diverse selection of programs and products fon the hospitality industry
              Pineapple Hospitality, providing a wide range of environmentally friendly products for the hospitality industry


                * Soap/Shampoo dispensers


                * Beverages


          Meeting Planners


          Education

"In the end we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught." --Baba Dioum, Senegalese Ecologist on the endless road building for logging of the tropical Amazon rainforest.


              Benchmark Hotel, a tool to help improve environmental performance and take cost saving steps
              CERES Green Hotel Initiative
              Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Lodging Association
              Energy Star for products, home improvement, new homes,and business improvement
              Green Restaurant Association, "Creating an ecologically sustainable restaurant industry."
              Green Lodging News, an ezine for people interested in green travel and lodging.
              Green Star, a non-profit organization that encourages businesses to practice waste reduction, energy conservation and pollution prevention
              Organic Spa Magazine, a magazine and ezine for people wanting the best of health and relaxation.
              Stop Waste Waste reduction and recycling for Alameda County, California
              Sustainable Travel International promotes responsible tourism and supports sustainable development
              Tourism Partnership for driving the responsible tourism agenda through practical action.


          Green Building

"Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you." --Frank Lloyd Wright


   Certification Groups


   Consultants

"We cannot solve the problems that we have created with the same thinking that created them." --Albert Einstein
              EcoNomically Sound, 970-626-6057. Combining an environmental education with a hospitality background to give you thoughtful guidance in greening your hospitality venue.



Remaining silent about the destruction of nature is an endorsement of that destruction."

--Edward Abbey

"We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect."

--Aldo Leopold

"Take a course in good water and air; and in the eternal youth of Nature you may renew your own. Go quietly, alone; no harm will befall you."

--John Muir

"Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty."

--Albert Einstein

"Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man"

--Stuart Udall

"The civilized people of today look back with horror at their medieval ancestors who wontonly destroyed great works of art or sat slothfully by while they destroyed. We have passed this stage... Here in the U.S. we turn our rivers and streams into sewers and dumping grounds, we pollute the air, we destroy our forests and exterminate fishes, birds and mammals - not to speak of vulgarizing charming landscapes with hideous advertisements. But at best it looks as if our people were awakening."

--Theodore Roosevelt, "Outlook" June 25, 1913.

"A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."

--Aldo Leopold
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