I don’t know about you, but I like the idea of a business being conservative and eco-friendly. I especially like it when they point out their conservation efforts so I can give them kudos for their efforts and, as a good consumer, continue to support them. They embrace values that align with my own.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words
I have traveled more lately than usual and have noticed the trend for hotels to promote their efforts to save water by reducing laundry loads. On the nightstand or leaned against a fluffy pillow, I usually find a notice like this one:

Great! I’ll just hang up my towel to re-use like I do at home. Because after all, how dirty does a towel really get when it is drying off a clean body, right?

So, I do it:

Three days I stayed in this room. Three days I hung up my towel. Three days the cleaning staff took my hung up towels and provided fresh ones. Well…. that didn’t work.

I can report that after four multiple-night stays at various locations around the state of Florida within the last six months – all different hotel chains as well – every one of them touted their eco-friendly laundry practices and every one of them replaced my hung up towels every single day.

So I’m not sure if this is a training issue or more deeply rooted problem, but I do hope that hotels can recognize their inconsistency and start following through on their water conservation goals. My study was by no means a controlled one but merely observational.

I would love to know if others have experienced this – feel free to share a comment! Anyone out there have a story about a hotel that did practice what they preached and leave the towels hanging? Here’s a link to a great program spearheaded by the South Florida Water Management District https://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/conservation/waterchamp I think I’ll use this link to book my next hotel stay!

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