3 eco savy tips for your next hotel stay
Traveling should be fun! PERIOD. I'm guessing it's not too hard to get you on board with that idea. The thing is, if we are not conscious about the decisions we make, our next vacation could create a fair amount of waste. AKA, not so good for the planet. But wait! There is hope in every direction for a vacation that, to you, will feel exactly like what you have been waiting for, that mother nature would approve of as well.
There are so many areas to focus on in the realm of travel so here we will talk about ways to decrease our waste in hotels specifically. Below are three tips on how you can be a little more eco-savvy next time you are lounging in robe ordering room service!
1. The “Do Not Disturb” sign is your bff. When you arrive, pop that baby outside the door and let it do its work. If you do not specify otherwise, the hotel will assume you want your room cleaned everyday which includes new sheets and towels. When you decline the house keeping service you save loads of unnecessary laundry and cleaning products. The best part, once you put the sign out, your work is done.
2. Bring all your own toiletries. Like all of them. We often bring our main products but will forget things like a bar soap or body lotion. Obviously no one is perfect (I have forgotten my share of items on countless trips). The goal here is not to feel bad when you forget something, because who is that helping? What we are trying to achieve is as little waste as possible. So if you do happen to open a product they provide for you, take it home to save it from the landfill.
3. Soak up the room service and dining options provided by the hotel you are staying with! Who doesn't love room service? When we travel, food becomes one of the largest categories of waste. When you eat at the hotel you are using dishes rather than take-out boxes or wrapping. If your hotel doesn't offer food, try dining in vs takeout more often than not.
Bonus Tip: Pretty much all big cities (and I'm sure lots of little ones) have hotels that are attempting to move in a sustainable direction. If you can find a hotel with a green mission, great! If that is not an option, many hotels will have a section on their website where they talk about what they are doing to better their environmental practices.
By using the above tips on your next trip you are making a beautiful impact and statement that you care. Remember that we are human which means we make mistakes, forget things, and just want take-out sometimes and this is more than okay! By increasing the good we do for the planet and decreasing the pressure we put on ourselves to be perfect, we are allowing the community of environmentalists to grow.