25 Apr Hidden Ingredients

It’s hard to know if you’re choosing a hotel that is managing its environmental impact. It shouldn’t be.

If you go to the grocery story it is easy to find sustainable foods. If you buy an appliance you can quickly find the product’s energy star rating.

But – if you want to know about the energy performance of a hotel before you click “buy” on an online travel agency or the hotel website, it will take you time – perhaps a long time – to get information. The cost of your search – in your time – is high.

It really doesn’t make much sense. I know that the major hotel brands have very good programs to ensure their energy efficiency. I know that travelers want to protect the earth. Yet energy performance, and sustainability measures, in general, remain “hidden ingredients”. It is a lost opportunity to tell consumers they want to know.

It’s too bad that as we browse through the options on the travel webpages we can’t get information about the sustainability of hotels as easily as we can get information on whether the fruit was grown organically.