Earth Day 2011: Engaging Your Guests & Community

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. April 15, 2011

April 14, 2011 - Celebrate April 22nd and help raise awareness about environmental concerns with your green hotel guests and community - by hosting one of the following top ten ideas.

Hold a “Green” Wine & Food Event

Celebrate the day with local wineries, restaurants, farms and locally sourced products. You can offer a special Sustainable Wine & Food lunch or dinner to your guests and community or go all out and have a festival right at your green hotel. Either way, you'll definitely make the local newspaper (make sure you let them know in advance).

Replace Disposables

May of the items hotel guests and employees use every day can be improved to be reusable and reduce waste. Replace your drinking cups with these compostable World Art hot & cold cups or how about a refillable water bottle, for starters.

“Go Green, Save Green” Package

Offer guests a custom green stay package, which can include room discount, favorable hybrid parking spot, and percent off on organic products and services at your gift shop, spa, restaurant, or bar.

Serve Sustainable Food

If you have a restaurant at your green hotel, allow your Chefs to serve sustainable entrees. When the bill comes, diners can donate $1 to a non-profit charitable eco-friendly organization like the National Geographic Society.

Hybrid Parking & Bike Rentals

Offer complimentary, special spot, parking for hybrid vehicles and offer free or discounted bike rentals to guests to explore your city. Don't forget the bike rack!

Change the Lights

Being a “green” hotel starts with the basics. Make sure all the lights in the hotel are eco-friendly to help conserve energy. LED light bulbs

Earth Day Green Project

Enlist your guests and employees to take part in a community restoration, clean-up or any other environmentally friendly project (even if it's simply planting trees). Afterwards, they can take advantage of discounts at your bar, restaurant, or on eco-minded spa services.

Join a Resource Pledge

Make a pact (or policy) with your employees, guests and others, locally or on a national scale, to help conserve resources. Involve your guests by inviting them to participate in a “Take a short shower” program (give out branded shower timers that guest can take home and use) or “Turn all lights off during daylight hours” or simply purchase recycled paper only from now on; etc.

Start a Community Garden

With just a little bit of space, raw material, and effort, a community garden within your green hotel's landscape serves many purposes. It can get guests and the community actively involved in an eco-related activity; produce fresh fruits and vegetables for your restaurant/kitchen or beautiful flowers for scenery. It also helps bring the community closer together at your hotel! It will definitely leave an impression.

Attend a Rally

Sheer force of numbers helps to raise awareness about environmental issues. Show your community and guests your commitment to being a green hotel. Be a face in the crowd at a local rally to help tip the scale in favor of eco-friendliness. You can enlist employees and guests to attend. Gather for pre-rally fun and shuttle everyone to the event! Your hotel's good stewardship will definitely recognized.

About EcoGreenHotel

EcoGreenHotel is dedicated to helping lodging facilities address environmental issues and achieve the Triple Bottom Line. EcoGreenHotel.com is also a great resource for tools, checklists, current news and trends, as well as a marketplace for green products and services at EcoGreenHotelStore.com. EcoGreenHotel also offers green marketing services for existing green hotels.