Highbrow Magazine - staying at hotels https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/staying-hotels-0 en Are Airlines or Hotels Greenwashing? https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/20087-are-airlines-or-hotels-greenwashing <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/travel" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Travel</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Fri, 07/22/2022 - 16:17</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/2hotel_tiyana-pixabay.jpg?itok=3HUVIFav"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/2hotel_tiyana-pixabay.jpg?itok=3HUVIFav" width="480" height="320" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Is the travel industry serious about protecting the environment? Or is it just hyping negligible environmental efforts — otherwise known as greenwashing — to make a quick buck off your next vacation?</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Y. Murat Ozguc has started to wonder. As the owner of Travel Atelier, a Turkish tour operator, he regularly inspects hotels in Europe that claim to be environmentally friendly. He asks them pointed questions about how they’re protecting the planet.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The answers he gets are disappointing. Hotel managers will wave at a lone solar panel on the roof or mention a recycling program, often mandated by local authorities, he says. “If even that.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">As for the cards in the bathroom that urge him to reuse his towels “for the environment,” he says he complies. But the housekeepers often remove his towels anyway.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Greenwashing — when a company says it is environmentally conscious for marketing purposes but isn’t making any notable sustainability efforts — is rampant in the travel industry. Many travel companies relaxed their sustainability efforts during the pandemic, adding sanitizing programs that increased the use of disposable or non-recyclable materials. Even today, everything seems to be wrapped in plastic.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">So how can you tell if a travel company means business?</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“Greenwashing is not always easy to spot,” says Joshua Zinder, managing partner of JZA+D, which focuses on sustainable design. “We’ve all seen those little cards in the bathrooms in guest rooms suggesting that you may decline to have housekeeping provide clean towels. Who really benefits from this practice? The hotel operator does, of course, since they stand to save on the energy, water and manpower related to laundry. This is a cost-saving strategy with little impact on the environment.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3hotels_david_lee-pixabay.jpg" style="height:454px; width:650px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The problem is that there’s no Good Housekeeping seal of approval for green travel companies. The closest may be LEED certification, which focuses on a building’s energy and environmental design. But experts note that a hotel could be LEED certified and still fall flat when it comes to other environmental initiatives.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“There are practices that generally signal that a hotel or an airline is more sustainable, or at least earnestly trying to be,” says Ashlee Piper, author of “Give a Sh*t: Do Good. Live Better. Save the Planet.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">For hotels, this can mean offering more recycling and composting options. A resort could serve more plant-based and local foods, install environmentally friendly heating and cooling systems, or use alternative energy sources. In bathrooms, water-saving measures such as low-flow shower heads and faucet aerators are telltale signs that a property is serious about helping the environment.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Airlines that offer transparent carbon offset programs are making a legitimate effort to be sustainable. It’s also a positive sign when airlines are experimenting with sustainable fuels.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Don’t trust the stickers on the door that say the hotel or tour operator is environmentally certified.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“Look at their corporate disclosure documents on their websites,” says Nneoma Njoku, general manager of Labrador U.S., a global corporate disclosure communications firm. “It’s one of the best ways to determine if an organization is environmentally conscious and implements true sustainability efforts.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/1tourists_pexels.jpg" style="height:399px; width:600px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">For instance, Booking Holdings, which owns Priceline, Kayak, OpenTable and Rentalcars.com, claimed to be carbon-neutral in 2020 and 2021. If you look at its proxy statement, it points readers to a dedicated area of its website that explains sustainability efforts.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Or consider the recent announcement that IHG Hotels &amp; Resorts would work with Unilever to replace mini-toiletries with bulk amenities in more than 4,000 hotels. It’s a key step in the hotel chain’s pledge to eliminate single-use items throughout guests’ stays by 2030, according to the company.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Is it real or greenwashing? The IHG announcement contained several specific and verifiable promises. It noted that Unilever’s brand Dove will begin supplying full-size hand wash and lotions to Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Avid Hotels, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites in certain locations. IHG says switching to full-size bathroom amenities is expected to save at least 850 tons of plastic annually. The company also has a dedicated page for its green initiatives.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">How do you ferret out greenwashing?</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">“The most obvious way that you can see this is through the excessive use of plastic,” says Larry Snider, vice president of operations of Casago Vacation Rentals. “It’s individually wrapped soaps, plastic cups, which are often also wrapped in plastic, and plastic garbage bags.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">There’s also corporate culture. Are employees driving their cars to work or riding bikes? Do they talk about sustainability in a meaningful way or just repeat recycled slogans about sustainability? Do they volunteer in their local communities? Those are all ways of determining whether a company is serious about sustainability, experts say.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Trouble is, most of the time, you don’t know until you’re at your destination. And by then, it’s too late. Experts say it will probably stay that way until the travel industry can develop an enforceable and widely recognized certification program. But time is running out.</span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2airplane_blende-pixabay.jpg" style="height:410px; width:650px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Author Bio:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Christopher Elliott is the chief advocacy officer for Elliott Advocacy. Email him at </em><a href="mailto:chris@elliott.org" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><em>chris@elliott.org</em></a><em> or get help with any consumer problem by contacting him at </em><a href="http://www.elliott.org/help" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline"><em>http://www.elliott.org/help</em></a><em>. This story originally appeared in the Washington Post. It’s republished here with permission. </em></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>© 2022 Christopher Elliott.</em></strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Image Sources:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Tiyana (<a href="https://pixabay.com/photos/water-outdoors-sky-travel-3292794/" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Pixabay</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--David Lee (<a href="https://pixabay.com/photos/hotel-room-new-product-door-1330850/" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Pixabay</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Blende (<a href="https://pixabay.com/photos/aircraft-sunset-silhouette-clouds-1362586/" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Pixabay</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>--Asad Photo Maldives (<a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-and-woman-walks-on-dock-1268855/" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Pexels</a>, Creative Commons)</em></span></span></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/greenwashing" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">greenwashing</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/being-green" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">being green</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/carbon-neutral" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">carbon neutral</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/hotels" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">hotels</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/airlines" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">airlines</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/environment-0" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">the environment</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/climate-change" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">climate change</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/staying-hotels-0" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">staying at hotels</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/sustainable-fuels" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">sustainable fuels</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/carbon-footprint" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">carbon footprint</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/traveling-plane" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">traveling on a plane</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/vacation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">vacation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Christopher Elliott</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">In Slider</div></div></div> Fri, 22 Jul 2022 20:17:50 +0000 tara 11218 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/20087-are-airlines-or-hotels-greenwashing#comments