Green travel ideas from two environmentally conscious travelers

As I sit here writing this post, I am bemused by how many electrical cords I have in the room. There’s one for my cell phone, one for my printer, at least two for my computer and then I have a power strip for them all to be plugged in to. My light has a cord, my fan has a cord…and across the room, my fiance’s corner looks like a jungle with electrical snakes.

I explain all of this in order to explain my complete fascination with the idea of wireless, or cordless, electricity. Never mind that it’s a very sexy and cool idea - think about the environmental ramifications! As reported by the above CNN article, a company called WiTricity is currently perfecting their wireless electricity technology, and excuse the pun, but the article made my hair stand up. Think about all of those batteries that we throw away - the article reports that companies make more than 40 billion of them every year. And, powering your iPods and mp3 players and computers is wonderful, but what about the implications for the resuscitation of the electric car? The car failed the first time around for a host of reasons, and one of them the sheer impracticality of having to build charging stations every so many miles so that cars could be powered up. Wireless electricity seems to solve that pesky chicken-and-egg problem wherein electric cars will not become widespread until there is the electric car infrastructure to support them, but the infrastructure to support them won’t be built until electric cars really take off.

It seems that, if developed properly, this technology could also save a lot of energy, as it only powers objects when they need to be charged. Right now, our computers and televisions are sucking up energy even when they’re turned off - if they’re plugged in, they’re using up small amounts of energy.

Wireless technology is already here for smaller devices. I cannot wait to see how this potentially green technology develops on a larger scale. Hopefully, I’ll be in the position to tell my own kids in about ten years “back when I was a girl, we had to use these things called electrical cords to power up everything, and it was a pain…”

Photo Credit: Edkohler from Flickr

We stayed at Atlanta’s downtown Sheraton more than a year ago with my family, but I didn’t realize how green this hotel is at the time and how many environmentally friendly choices they’re making. It’s fantastic, and the more I read, the more I realize that this hotel is unique in downtown Atlanta. Hopefully,  more hotels will follow their green lead.

Sheraton lists their green initiatives on their website, but I wanted to summarize  the green moves  I felt were particularly cool in their “greenness.”

Drought Tolerant landscaping - coming from San Diego, I know how crucial this is and during the last two years, due to water shortage, Atlanta found out how precious water is. Trees are much greener this summer, but let’s not forget how brown and dead the lawns and trees were last year. By planting drought resistant trees and bushes, the hotel saves tons of water and keep the grounds looking lush even when water is scarce.

New Energy Efficient Water Heating System -  Yes, it cost the hotel more than $700,000, but the water heating system at the hotel is now 50% more efficient. That’s a lot of energy and money savings.

Telecommuting -  Sheraton reports that the telecommuting option they offer employees saves almost two tons of carbon emissions each month.

Saline Cleaned Pools -  as someone who is bothered by chlorine when I go swimming, this is great. Saline cleaned pools don’t use chemicals to clean the pool that are harsh on the environment. The systems are expensive to install, but save money in the long run.

The downtown Sheraton in Atlanta also carefully monitors their energy consumption. The only element I’d love to see them start using is the key-card system some hotels are now using which automatically turn off all lights and conserve temperature settings when guests don’t use the room.

I’m going to recommend this hotel to friends and family who are visiting - I love to give business to places which are this environmentally conscious.

Recently, the Marriott Corporation initiated a program of reducing waste at the company’s headquarters. It announced the new initiative by blasting a press release out on America Recycles Day to take advantage of the publicity opportunity, and then Bill Marriott blogged about it. The initiative consists of the company eliminating the use of styrofoam and plastic utensils and switching to biodegradable products, as well as offering their employees reusable mugs and 30 parking places reserved for those who drive Hybrid vehicles. Changes like this are certainly welcome and a good start, but when a hotel chain institutes these kinds of changes at their headquarters, the obvious reaction is: “What about the hotels?”

Apparently, we’re not the only one who asks these questions. Just about every comment on Bill Marriott’s blog touches on the same issue–why are the lights on when nobody’s in the rooms? why keep the rooms chilled to what seems like 55 degrees Fahrenheit? why not switch to Spudware in the hotels? I think if this were the end of the story, the verdict would be clear: Marriott would be guilty of greenwashing.

However, that isn’t the end of the story. Marriott seems to be taking slow but steady steps toward moving to a more sustainable model. A promotional video they posted on YouTube also has a short take on their sustainability efforts. It’s not perfect, certainly, but it’s something that should be encouraged and applauded in an industry that has been slow to change.

The company’s long-term sustainability goals were recently documented in the Washington Post. According to this article, Marriott’s changes will eventually trickle down to all of their hotels, and in the meantime, they have tried to take to take more modest measures at the hotel level. The CFO, Arne Sorenson, who acts as a co-chairman on the company’s “green council” readily admits that “We still have a big environmental footprint. We don’t know what it is but we know it’s significant.”

Here at Simple Green Choices, we would much rather see executives frankly discuss the serious changes that still need to be made than resting on their laurels after executing mediocre plans of bandaids and greenwashing. Marriott has the potential to make a big impact by integrating environmental practices into everything they do, but it’s going to take courage and vision on the part of the corporate leadership. If they can succeed in winning over more guests through their efforts, though, it will certainly push the rest of the industry to follow suit.

If there’s anyone I’m disappointed with in this story, it’s the Washington Post. The article on Marriott displayed serious signs of lazy reporting. Here’s a chance for the newspaper to dig a bit deeper and get at the heart of environmental practices in hotels. Where’s the interview with Hilton? Embassy Suites? Holiday Inn? W Hotels? What’s best practice in the industry?

Well, we’re not reporters, but we’re willing to do a bit of research. Tune back in here tomorrow for the Chain Hotels Eco-Challenge: Hilton vs. Marriott.

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