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The international day of environmental action, Earth Day, brings the issue of environmental protection to the forefront each year on April 22 and encourages people to reflect on their ecological accountability. Hotels and hotel guests can also do their bit: hotel.info has done some research and put together a number of interesting options to help protect the environment.

Hotels in the USA consume an average of 84.7 billion kWh electricity per year -- enough to supply Washington D.C. with energy for ten years.* One way that guests can save electricity in a hotel is by unplugging tea kettles or hair dryers when they have finished with them, as these devices consume small amounts of energy even when they are switched off.

Make a Big Difference with Small Changes

Hotels can also achieve a lot by making small changes. For example, switching from normal light bulbs to energy-saving light bulbs reduces the energy consumption for lighting by up to 75%.

Environmental protection is even easier for hotel guests:

Pack your own toiletries, thereby avoiding plastic waste
Reduce the amount of time spent in the shower, thus saving water
Put the "Please do not disturb" sign on the room door if it is not absolutely essential for the room to be cleaned. This will save an average hotel 30 full hot tubs of water a month**

In order to increase the environmental awareness of both hotels and hotel guests, hotel.info is encouraging everyone to pull together for Earth Day 2012 to implement these measures and do their bit for the environment. More information with additional tips for environmental protection in the hotel and on the "Please do not disturb" campaign can be found at this link:

http://www.hotel.info/en/blog/do-not-disturb-the-future-of-hotels-is-green

* Sources:

http://www.eia.gov/emeu/cbecs/cbecs2003/detailed_tables_2003/detailed_tables_2003.html#buildingchar03

http://205.254.135.24/cneaf/electricity/esr/table10.html

** Source:

http://www.economicallysound.com/towelsheet_reuse_program_savings.html (calculation based on a 200 gallon hot tub

and 6,000 gallons of water saved monthly)