"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"
I slept better last night than I have in years because Mayor Daley sent me an electronic lullabye about the greening of Chicago Hotels.
As it turns out, our town leads the nation in green-certified hotels. That sounds like a load of PR hooey but, to someone like me who literally must turn the mind away from such nearly-paralyzing thoughts such as "how wasteful is it to throw away all the little soaps after just one use!?!?!?!" when I travel (which is very often) it’s pretty darn cool.
We have five Green Seal Certified Hotels (none of which offered me a free night’s stay…yet, ahem…)
1. Hotel Monaco Chicago
2. Hotel Burnham
3. Hotel Allegro Chicago
4. InterContinental Chicago
5. Talbott Hotel
In the oddly dated and titled press release "CITY RECOGNIZES ENVIRONMENTAL leadership OF HOTELS: Chicago Leads Nation in Green Seal Certified Hotels" one of the city’s many, many PR people walked us through the myriad waste-reduction efforts that those hotels tracked and measured to get on the list of twenty five Chicago hotels trying to get certified (see list at end).
To quote the press release: "The Green Hotels Initiative challenges hotels to obtain Green Seal certification, an environmental lodging standard with requirements in waste minimization, energy efficiency, water conservation, waste water management and green procurement."
Blah, blah, blah…getting to the good stuff, here’s a choice sampling of the ultra-hard-core, didn’t-even-know-such-things-existed measures each of these hotels took to earn Da Mayer’s green stamp of approval:
Conducted an extensive amenity study to examine the smallest practical size that amenity bottles could be based on the average use of guests. ·
Hotel Monaco reduces paper consumption by having a paperless check in at the front desk, no paperwork to sign, and all printers for office use are set to print double-sided. ·
The hotel is committed to using eco-friendly paints – low VOC and free of heavy metals. ·
The hotel minimizes disposable service ware by using durable, ceramic cups in guest rooms and the lobby. ·
All coffee served to guests is shade grown, organic or fair trade. ·
Hotel Burnham uses non-phosphate, nontoxic, biodegradable laundry detergents and cleaning products by Sierra Environmental, a leading provider of natural, environmentally safe, commercial-grade cleaning products ·
All lights that are on 24 hours a day such as hall ways, the lobby, and exit signs are energy efficient. The Burnham Hotel has established a comprehensive 5 year plan to retrofit all lighting. Hotel Allegro Chicago The hotel has recycling receptacles in all guest rooms. The Hotel Allegro along with Hotel Burnham and Hotel Monaco are part of a collection of Kimpton Hotels, which is the first hotel company to start recycling in guest rooms nationwide. · The hotel recycles clothing wire hangers from dry cleaning ~ about 300 - 500 hangers per month · Hotel Allegro uses dual purpose nylon dry cleaning bags. These bags are used to send clothing to the dry cleaners, and the dry cleaners use the same type of bags to send the hotel the dry-cleaned clothes. · Uses suppliers that take back reusable packaging and shipping pallets. ·
Earlier this year, the InterContinental was awarded EPA’s ENERGY STAR Label, which means the building achieved a score of 75 or higher in energy efficiency for a building of its size and use. ·
The hotel purchases Green-e certified renewable energy credits for 50% of the energy the hotel consumes annually. ·
The hotel installed refillable amenity dispensers in one floor to test the product and gather customer comments. ·
The hotel uses solar powered water faucets in public washrooms. ·
The hotel donates left over food from banquets to the employee cafeteria and minimizes a majority of food wastes. ·
The hotel’s landscape company uses organic insecticides, fertilizers and biocides. ·
The hotel purchases wind energy credits to offset 100% of their electrical footprint. ·
The Talbott Hotel implements a "Greenificent Lifestyle" program for guests and employees. If guest push "Eco Mode" on their thermostat, the housekeeping staff will replace bed and bath linens every other day. The thermostat will automatically adjust when the guest is not in the room. By opting for this program, the hotel rewards guests by offsetting the guest’s household electricity consumption for a month. ·
Employees were given 2 free CFLs and an offset for one month of their household electricity consumption to encourage sustainable living. ·
It ain’t easy being green – it costs a lot of money, in fact. Who knows just how much solar-powered water faucets or eco-friendly paint costs? But most businesses know that in the long run being a good steward of the earth’s resources pays off.
I’m not even going to lie and act like I could afford to stay at these places so I can show my support for the amazing lengths they go to in order to save precious resources, but that’s completely beside the fact.
As this sort of intense attention to environmentally-friendly detail spreads, eventually even the sort of one-star joints I stay in when I’m footing the bill will use less chlorine, not wash my towels every night by default, and let me use each little bar of soap until it’s gone.
***
Chicago Green Seal Audited Hotels include:
1. Drake Hotel
2. Essex Inn
3. Fairmont
4. Four Points Hotel
5. Four Seasons
6. Hard Rock Hotel
7. Hilton Chicago
8. Hotel Allegro
9. Hotel Burnham
10. Hotel Monaco
See the rest of the list here. Founded in 1989, Green Seal is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC that provides science-based environmental certification standards that are credible, transparent, and essential in an increasingly educated and competitive marketplace. Their industry knowledge and standards help manufacturers, purchasers, and end users alike make responsible choices that positively impact business behavior and improve quality of life.
Esther J. Cepeda writes the "600 Words" & "Pregunta del Dia" columns, and is also the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. Her views and reporting do not necessarily reflect those of ISAC. "600 words" is a registered trademark of EeJayCee, Inc., Copyright 2008. May be reprinted with permission, contact eejaycee@600words.com
Thanks for proving information about Chicago’s greenest hotels. Nice list of Chicago’s greenest hotels provided by you.
Posted by: Cheap Hotels in Chicago | January 07, 2009 at 05:08 AM