Indians are travelling a lot these days. Everyday millions of us travel for business or pleasure, from one part of country to another and maybe abroad. Millions of Indians visit places like the Taj Mahal, Golden Temple, Kashmir, Kanyakumari, Goa’s beaches, Jaipur and Udaipur Palace, Kulu-Manali and Mumbai, to name a few. India also attracts a large number of foreign tourists every year. The number of foreign visitors to India is expected to cross the 10 million mark by 2010!

IMPACT OF TOURISM AND TRAVEL

Have you ever wondered what millions of us do to the environment of the places we visit? The locals cut down trees to construct hotels for us to stay, install more air conditioners for our comfort, and bring in autos, taxis and buses to cater to our transport needs. Cutting a forest down, or digging land up, to build a resort destroys the local ecosystem, affecting air, water, animals and vegetation. To build a hotel in the middle of a desert or on a mountain the locals need to bring resources from outside, again changing the environment. Human interference even affects the environment worldwide. Can we afford to keep doing that?

This is not all. According to Green Seal, an organization that certifies the environmental practices of a variety of businesses, an average 150-room hotel consumes as much in one week as hundred 4-person households do in one year. That's a lot of consumption and waste!

Here are some of the reasons for increased consumption:

• In our homes the lights are off during the night and AC/coolers are off during large portions of the day while hotels are "on" 24/7, with lights, climate control, etc.
• At home we are aware of the cost of rampant water and energy use, so do some self-monitoring and conservation, while we often don't worry so much about resource consumption when we are at hotels.
• Soap, shampoo, lotion, and food items are reused by our families until they are consumed, while hotels have a one-use policy, for which we are grateful.
• At home we do not change towels and bed sheets daily, while we insist on that in the hotels we stay at.
  
  
  SOLUTION

We can reduce this impact of tourism in many ways, Green or Ecotel Hotels being one of them. These are environmentally-friendly properties with programs to save water and energy and reduce solid waste. Additionally, the architecture of hotels with ‘Green Certification’ is aimed at saving energy. Lets address them uniformly as Green Hotels, as uncertified ‘Green Labeling’ is synonymous with anything that is eco-friendly, energy conserving, non toxic and recyclable. Environmentally friendly hotels not only save money for the owner and guests, but also resources for the world. Many of us will be attracted to a green hotel just because it is taking environmentally friendly steps. Organizations like the "Green Hotels Association” bring together hotels interested in environmental issues

All ECOTEL-certified hotels are inspected annually by environmental experts from Hospitality Valuation Services (HVS) International, a global ISO-certified body. To get an ECOTEL certification, a hotel must adhere to at least two of the `five globes' of energy efficiency, water conservation, employee education and community involvement, solid waste management and environmental commitment. Hotels that do not adhere to the five globes lose their certification. The Green Building Certification is issued by US/Indian Green Building Council or by LEEDS (Leadership in Energy and Environment Designs).

WHAT GREEN HOTELS DO

Green Hotels are constructed using environment-friendly materials like PPC cement (Portland Pozzalana cement), which last long, are energy saving (almost 40 per cent) and insulate against extremities of weather. Their windows are thermally sealed and double-glazed preventing heat and noise from entering the room. These measures lower air-conditioning or room heating costs and save electricity.

They use low energy lamps (compact fluorescent lamps) for all lighting. For most such hotels room lights and A/C are switched on only when we insert the key. The interactive TV in the rooms of some such hotels can be used to send/receive messages and clear bills, thereby saving paper/ phone costs.

The hotels work with NGOs, corporate groups and educational institutions to conduct environmental community awareness programs.

Green Hotels preserve and recycle water. All taps in the guest rooms, toilets, cafeteria and the kitchen contain special devices that increase force and decrease water outflow, saving nearly 50 per cent water. The toilets use concealed cisterns, which consume only seven litres of water as compared to the ordinary cistern that flushes out almost 20! Mini tanks (3.5 litres) are used for a quick flush. Recycled water is used for gardening and air-conditioning. Some Green Hotels capture rainwater into rain-harvesting wells which helps restore the water table.

Bio-degradable kitchen, toilet and garden waste is decomposed in decompost pits and used as manure. Non-bio-degradable waste is segregated and sent to recycling centres.

WHAT IF WE CANNOT FIND A GREEN HOTEL?

The concept of green hotels is fast catching up to save planet earth. However we may not find a green hotel always, for the simple reason that there are not many. There are several sites on the net when we search for ‘eco-friendly hotels’ or ‘ecotel hotel’ or ‘green hotel’ that list eco-friendly hotels in India and elsewhere. Some hotels practice the principles of eco friendly lodging and boarding but may not have ECOTEL or US/Indian Green Building Council Certification. However we can participate in saving our environment through some "green practices" while travelling:

• Reuse the towels during your stay in the hotel. Do not insist on changing bed sheets daily. This saves gallons of water and detergent. It saves a lot of energy too for hotels using dedicated laundry for the purpose with electrical appliances.
  
• Turn lights, AC, and TV off when you aren't in the room.
  
• Accept drinking water only when you want it.
  
• Be as conservation-minded on the road as you are at home.
  
• Keep aside small packs of butter, jam, jellies, pickles etc. served with room service and instruct hotel staff to use for other guests.
  
• Order only what you can eat. Do not waste.
  
• Give suggestions to management where you can about water conservation, composting and other techniques to save energy.
  
• Do not throw used cans, plastics, empty chips and biscuit packets, and empty water bottles around.
  
  THE NEED OF THE HOUR

What we need today are strict laws. It must be made mandatory for all hotels to follow the principles of environment friendly lodging and boarding. Practices harming the environment should be stopped. Laws and educative programs through mass communication combined with a moral obligation to save the planet Earth are the need of the hour. Hotel and tourism ministry and each one of us need to pull our socks up and tighten our shoe laces as the clock is ticking—every second taking us towards destruction. All is not lost, there is time—so act now!