Green hotels are perhaps the best way to help the sustainable travel industry. Instead of just supporting the sustainability ideologically, you’re supporting it with your wallet as well.
==> What Are Green Hotels?
Green hotels are hotels that go out of their way to use the most environmentally friendly materials, equipment, processes and policies they can.
This means using energy saving light bulbs, water conserving shower heads, good insulation, low flush toilets, heat / cool conserving windows and energy star appliances.
It means they often use environmentally friendly products instead of mass produced products. For example, you might find green soaps and shampoos in your bathroom instead of the cheapest possible shampoo the hotel could buy.
Often times green hotels will serve organic foods, raw foods or vegan foods in their kitchens.
By supporting green hotels, you’re not just supporting the hotel – you’re supporting all their vendors as well. All the money you spend will go towards helping the environment in one way or another.
==> How Do You Find a Green Hotel?
There are a few different ways you can look for green hotels.
First is the Green Hotels Association website. This website is where green hotel owners register their hotels. The site independently verifies that each hotel has truly taken steps to reduce their environmental impact.
You can also use a number of online forums and communities to find green hotels. For example, the Environmentally Friendly Hotels forum is a good place to start any search for a sustainable hotel.
Finally, you can just read reviews of hotels on any travel website to find people who’ve commented on a hotel’s greenness.
Instead of looking for hotels that market themselves as green, you can find quite a few hotels that really are green, but don’t necessarily market themselves this way.
Just call up the reception and ask about what green procedures the hotel has taken. Sometimes hotels simply prefer to target a mainstream audience, but still implement green procedures anyway.
==> Instead of a Hotel …
In some cities, finding a good green hotel can be quite challenging. Instead, of looking for a hotel, it’s often easier to go for a bed and breakfast that’s environmentally conscious.
There are a few ways to find them. The easiest way is Google.
Just type in the city’s name and “bed and breakfast” in Google. For example, “Bristol Bed and Breakfast” or “Krakow Bed and Breakfast.”
You can also find a lot of bed and breakfast establishments on Airbnb.
Finding green hotels takes slightly more research than just booking at room at the nearest Hilton or Holiday Inn. By staying at green hotels however, you’re supporting a growing industry that’s actively trying to make a difference in the world.
Adryenn Ashley is a globetrotting social influencer out to change the world for the better. She loves Jozu’s mission to make travel safer for women and longs to visit Mecca, the Pyramids, and the Rain Forrest.