Hotels naturally have trouble going green. Think about the really granular details of how they operate; there’s a lot that you might miss. How often do you see a bar of soap you used once replaced with a new one? Rolls of toilet paper are swapped when only a fraction is used. You have the option to use sheets or towels more than once, but the choice is yours … and how often to you choose to shower green? Nonetheless, some properties are making progress.
Several hotels are now offering two wheels instead of four. The Bowery Hotel in New York, Gansevoort South in Miami, James Chicago and Element in Lexington, MA have picked up stylish bicycles to entice guests to pedal rather than drive. Bikes from Jamis and Trek are included in this fusion of social responsibility and conspicuous luxury. Gansevoort, committed to matching the bikes’ aesthetic with that of its Miami backdrop, has opted for bikes from Puma-that glow in the dark.
Of course, the biggest problem that environmentally-friendly programs face is behavior. Hotels are loathe to force guests to change their behavior. And, who can blame them? No company wants to roll the dice on customers’ willingness to adapt. So far, the results seem positive. Element has had to order another nine Trek hybrids.
The jury’s still out, but let’s all cast a vote for pushing pedals.