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There are people who travel for work, salesmen and their ilk. Their company may not give a hoot or even a fig about environmental responsibility. They may book hotel rooms for these travelers by price or by location or just willy-nilly. That means it is up to the traveler to green their own hotel stay.
It isn't that hard to make your hotel room a veritable eco-habitat for the green-minded traveler. You just have to do what you'd do at home with a few exceptions.
1. Bring your own towel. By bringing your own towel on journeys, hotels will not feel obliged to clean your recently used towel. This will save water.
2. Turn off the lights when you leave a hotel room. Many folks don't act as they act at home. Make sure to keep up the green while on the go.
3. Turn the AC/heat down or off when leaving the hotel for long periods of time.
4. Skip the mini bar. The mini bar is full of miniature food and drink. That's a lot of packaging waste for so little liquor. The regular bar is a better choice. Look for places that serve local beer. If you're with a group, just buy a bottle of something and split it with the others.
5. Don't use those plastic courtesy cups. Carry a thermos for drinking.
6. If you are going to open the hotel's tiny shampoos and soaps, make sure to use the whole thing. People often open a whole new bottle each time they wash their hair.
7. Bring your own soap and shampoo. Buy travel size once. Refill your travel-sized bottles over and over again with the shampoo you have at home. This will decrease packaging waste.
8. Change the settings on the TV. Set the TV for power-saver mode and turn down the brightness.
9. Unplug all plugs from the outlets when you leave the hotel room.
10. Instead of pizza, order from room service or walk to the nearest eatery. Steer clear of bottled water.
