Today’s Orlando Sentinel has an article on how “Green hotels are cleaning up” underscoring a growing (and highly profitable) trend towards eco friendly hotels. Yet, despite vast coverage of the benefits of going green, the article notes “just five (hotels) in the nation are now certified as meeting the U.S. Green Building Council’s standards”. Nevertheless, leading hotel companies are intent on a full bore effort at going green. The Sentinel notes “the Hilton at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista is a leader in the company’s campaign to enhance its environmental credentials. Last month, it became the 24th hotel statewide — and the only Hilton in the Orlando area — certified under the Florida Green Lodging Program”.
The Green Hotels Association has been around a while and steers hoteliers who become members towards environmentally friendly practices. Another association that does similar work along with a search feature to locate eco-friendly hotel is Environmentally Friendly Hotels.
One affiliated business that has continually got a bad rap from environmentalists is the Golf industry. While the complaints about golf courses being detrimental from a variety of standpoints are sometimes justified, some of the accusations stem from inadequate knowledge of measures resorts are taking to stem environmental hazards. These range from ensuring that pesticides don’t leach into the groundwater to more advanced measures such as composting grass clippings and leaves to reduce the amount of waste in landfills.
Regardless, from hotels to restaurants to resorts, green is the way to go and even hotels in major city centers are using environmentally friendly material beginning with the construction process and continuing on into (green) operations mode.