Greener Hotels for a Healthy Planet!

But, among the criteria in picking the best hotel to stay, guests' least prioritized environmental issues and concerns.

It's a good thing that even consumers quite neglect this factor, the hotel and lodging industry all over the planet values not only their customers' satisfaction and safety but, their health as well. Especially nowadays that vicious H1N1 virus is now widespread all over the world.

Unfortunately, since the very core of the hospitality world is customer service, chances are, there are still some small hotel operators, chains, or corporations who care less about ecology.

Good news is "the giants" and their "empires", major hotel chains like Hyatt, Westin and Starwood, Marriot and some others offer superior accommodations in their eco-friendly hotels all over the world.

Below is the list of top 10 hotel chains that display and practice superb environmental awareness.

Hyatt. "Global Hyatt Corporation is dedicated to providing safe and comfortable accommodations and workspaces for our guests and associates, minimizing the environmental impact of our hotel, and caring for the environment and communities in which we operate," is the gist of their environmental mission.

Early this year and in celebration of Earth Day 2009, their Green Team launched Global Environmental Training Program to further educate all Hyatt employees on additional ways to reduce their environmental impact in hotels and in their own homes.

The program focused more on the areas that support and aligns with Hyatt's overarching environmental missions, which on top is to minimize carbon emissions and all other hazardous pollutants; waste; energy, as well as water consumptions.

In 2008, Hyatt signed an agreement with Natura Water Inc, to be able to provide their guests filtered water; a healthy, safe and environmentally responsible alternative to the bottled ones.

In that same year, ASEAN tourism awarded 2^nd Place of the ASEAN Green Hotel Standard for 2008-2009 to Grand Hyatt Singapore, for adopting energy conservation measures and fulfilling ten other more major criteria, which were all based on energy and water efficiency, environmental policy and actions for hotel operation, use of green products, collaboration with the community and local organizations and practice sustainable eco-tourism.
Westin and Starwood. "We, at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., believe that economic growth and the well-being of society are inextricably tied to the health of the environment. Accordingly, we embrace our responsibility for environmental stewardship and are committed to integrating leading environmental practices and sustainability principles into our core business strategy," as stated in their Environmental Sustainability Policy.

Starwood marked history in 2006, after launching to the public Element Hotels, their Green Trailblazer and as the first major hotel chain to enforce that all of their U.S. properties pursue the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED certification. The acronym stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a Green Building Rating System; it encourages and accelerates global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through the creation and implementation of universally understood and accepted tools and performance criteria.

Marriot. "Empower our hotel development partnersto site, design and construct new hotelsaccording to green standards by updatingMarriott design guidelines in line with the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED standards by the end of 2009," as the company aims to expand its portfolioof LEED-certified hotels.

Marriott International also participated in Team Earth, a worldwide sustainability movement that unites businesses, non-profit organizations, and individuals to address five critical environmental issues: climate change, water, health, waste and food. The initiative urges individual actions and presents easy solutions to ensure a more sustainable world.

With all these efforts it's a no surprise that Marriot bagged awards, the Tourism for Tomorrow Award and EPA's Sustained Excellence Award (for their Spirit to Preserve Strategy).

Hilton. Hilton Worldwide of Hotels recognizes environmental responsibility and is committed to improving their performance towards a sustainable future, while enhancing their guest and their employees' team member experience.

Hilton focuses on key environmental commitments of energy efficiency, CO2 reduction, water efficiency, waste reduction, renewable energy, and sustainable buildings and operations.

They commit to a five year reduction to reduce our energy consumption by 20%; reduce CO2 emissions by 20%; to reduce waste output by 20%. And, likewise reduce their water consumption by 10%, beginning 2009-2014.

InterContinental."We are aiming to make a night with IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group)," is their pledge of commitment to the environment"

In their policy, IHG expresses understanding and acknowledges their responsibility to respect the environment and manage its impacts for the benefit of the communities in which they operate. IHG commits to measure, manage and innovate.

Wyndham. "Wyndham Worldwide understands that its business activities impact the earth and its resources. We will continue our efforts to conserve resources, preserve natural habitats and prevent pollution," as stated in their environmental policy.

Wyndham is committed in:

- Developing environmental best practices in programs, products and services;

- Setting environmental impact targets and measuring performance

- Working with our employees, suppliers, owners and local communities to minimize our environmental impact

- Complying with local, state and federal environmental laws.

Double Tree. "Planting our roots for a greener future," is the theme of these green certified hotel chains.

They aim to bring environmental awareness and education to every aspect that they do business.

One of their biggest environmental accomplishment is the "Teaching Kids to Care" program that was founded 2002, educating children and the youth, to care for the community.

To date, 100,000 from the young generation have been reached out by this program around the globe.

Kimpton. Focuses on energy and water conservation. Maximum waste reduction and even promotes organic food and beverages. They recycle trash, phones and batteries too.

"Our commitment to the environment requires both enormous dedication and some real ingenuity. Long before green was golden; we were giving our guests a luxurious experience, while reducing our carbon footprint. We've been able to get better and better at it, without asking our guests to sacrifice the comfort and enjoyment they've come to expect from our hotels and restaurants. We're doing the right thing, without making our guests pay for it," as they commit to their mission.

Best Western. "Best Western for a Greener World", they are committed in providing member hotels with the resources, tools and education needed to be environmentally friendly by developing green initiatives to conserve natural resources, prevent pollution, reduce waste, and save money - without sacrificing service, quality, style or comfort.

Their corporate initiatives includes have their staff acquire LEED certifications that could help them in their efforts on green building, sustainability and environmental impact initiatives for hotel construction and renovation.

Best Western also has implemented a large-scale recycling program and made their cafeteria more environmentally friendly by using locally-sourced ingredients and eliminating Styrofoam.

Shangri-La."Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rethink," is the environmental theme of this Luxury Hotel chains in the Asia Pacific Region.

They commit to environmental protection and stewardship. Their goal is to mitigate environmental impacts by working closely with stakeholders to promote, practice, sustain and continuously improve eco-friendly efforts.

So Green, GO!

It's really just about time for the hospitality and lodging industry to go green and exhibit responsible environmental awareness. It's healthy for the property, for the guests, their employees and of course, Mother Earth.

At the same time, both Federal and most State offer tax credits for all environmental projects.

So, go green!