Leading Hotels of the World Committed to Carbon Neutral Experience

The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd., a prestigious luxury hospitality organization representing more than 430 of the world's finest hotels, resorts and spas, has made a financial commitment to offset guest's "carbon footprint" during their stay at any Leading Hotel.

Travel Green, launched in 2007 by Sustainable Travel International, calculates energy consumption to be around 50 cents per room, per Leading Hotels of the World's individual luxury resort sites. By donating that 50 cents per room (per night), Leading Hotels helps leisure travel become that much more carbon neutral. The money is invested in supporting clean, renewable energy resources. This 50 cent per guest investment goes directly towards solar and wind power. The overall quantity of greenhouse gases is reduced, once more energy efficient power sources are utilized. The Leading Hotels of the World is the first international luxury hotel brand to take part in this program.

What to Look for When Choosing a Green Hotel?

In the past 12 to 24 months, hotel's have started the shift towards the "Green" movement. The problem is no one exactly knows what that means...Some properties have just added recycle bins and slow drip soap dispensers while others, like the Crystal City Marriott in Washington D.C., have started green laundry programs that are going to save them roughly 3.5 million gallons of water per year.

There are several national and international green hotel certification programs right now all doing different things so it's hard to differentiate, rank or compare. Travel & Leisure did an interview that discussed some flagship green hotels including the Orchard Garden Hotel in San Francisco, The Lenox Hotel in Boston and The Ibis Porte de Clichy in Paris. As they say in the interview, Green hotels aren't just grass huts in island getaways anymore but mainstream hotels in major cities.

MSN.com furthering Green Movement

Kudo's to NBC on their "Green Week" before the Thanksgiving holiday. In case you missed it, nearly all of NBC's programing had a green bent on it, from the Today show to Scrubs. There was even a cameo by Al Gore on "30 Rock".

MSN.com, which has proudly displayed green advertising and green articles, now has a separate Green Page for all things related to the environment and climate change.

Check it out at:
http://green.msn.com/