Hotel Industry Moves Beyond GreenWashing.

Jay Westerveld, a New York Environmentalist, spotlighted the hotel’s industry’s practice of placing “green” placards in each room and promoting reusing guest towels. Coining the term “Greenwashing“, he implied such practices are a facade and are not a serious attempt by the hotel industry to “save the environment”.

Times have changed. Top hotels are aggressively tackling the issue and pulling out all the stops to lower their impact on the environment. By 2009, Westin will open 20 of its new Elements hotel. Elements will be a chain of “green” hotels that meet and pursue LEED certification. Hilton and Marriott all have presented action plans to reduce their impacts. Marriott’s plan includes adding solar panels to some hotels by 2017. The Intercontinental Hotel Group even launched a virtual hotel. Innovation Hotel allows visitors to look at the news ideas in “green” hotels and give feedback.

“Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement.” Alfred Adler

Bush’s Plan: Stop Growth of U.S. GHG emissions by 2025

Prefixed by the “complicated ” science of climate change, the debate around the issue and an oddly positioned link of his administration’s progress in lowering GHG emmissions with a 17 percent growth in the economy, President Bush began his speech on the climate from the Rose Garden this Wednesday. The root of his words was an announcement of “a new national goal: to stop the growth of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2025.”

The hinges of this plan are:

• Energy Legislation for new fuel economy
• Increased efficiency of lighting and appliances
• Technologies and tax incentives for states to increase renewable power and building code efficiency
• International agreement to accelerate cuts in HCFC emmissions

President Bush provided three areas as the suffix to his plan. He nodded to what has been done so far, what type of regulations is useful and what is not and spoke of the best system of incentives for these changes.

“The difference between offering the exceptional versus the acceptable is in communicating that the receiver is valued rather than an obligation.”

Introduction: Clear CO-OP

The challenge of this, both, honors and humbles us. “Honors us” because we are part of the solution. “Humbles us” through realizing we are only a part. We recognize that changing the globe will take a global effort.

This is why Clear Standards offers Clear CO-OP; a proposed partnership of our resources and your insight. The vision is a Green-centric business blog supplemented by your real world knowledge via a discussion forum. Think of it as “an interactive Green news exchange” where you share with international colleagues as we all go about changing the planet. The virtual “Give a penny. Take a penny.” of eco-strategy.

“Perhaps each of us can make it on our own. Question is: ‘Are we brave and wise enough not to?’”