An article in the Washington Post last week caught my eye and raised an issue that seems to be gaining more traction. The Headline was – Green Hotels juggle conservation with customer service – but the article was really about the failure of many hotels to follow through on their in room green promises. The article complained about a hotel room had a towel reuse policy that the housekeeping people seemed to ignore and showerheads designed to save water that didn’t work in a way that would save water.
I am always amazed at the amount of work the large hotel companies are doing to go “green”. Many of the changes are “behind the scenes” and the most hoteliers aren’t highlighting them in their marketing communications. There are green champions – at the highest levels of hotel corporations and in thousands of hotel properties across the country that are working hard to improve the hospitality industry’s green record.
Nevertheless – it is the highly visible programs like towel reuse programs that consumers see – and question - when they don’t happen as expected. Hotel managers could easily look at these types of reports and decide that towel reuse programs are worth the potential criticism. They are between a rock and a hard place and these criticisms highlight the significant organizational behavior change process the industry is working through. Nevertheless I applaud the companies that are introducing the programs, as imperfect as they are, and working to get them right 100% of the time. Progress …. towards perfection… is better than no change at all.
