"Please be environmentally friendly and help us reduce the
frequency of washing towels."
These words will be seen on small cards by the end of 2007 in
all hotel rooms that have signed a contract with the Beijing
Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG).
The polite reminder cards are just one of the measures taken by
the 112 establishments identified as being "green hotels".
Any hotel failing to meet the standards required by the end of
this year could have its contract terminated, said BOCOG officials
at a press conference yesterday.
The environmental guidelines issued by China National Tourism
Administration in 2006 say "green hotels" require eco-friendly
managerial systems and facilities. They also need to adopt
technologies that conserve water and reduce energy consumption and
waste generation.
"BOCOG will invite experts to survey the hotels early next year.
And those failing to meet the standards will be told to do so,"
said deputy director of BOCOG's Services Department Xiang Ping.
Hotels that don't meet the required standards will be dropped from
the listing.??
Of the hotels involved in the scheme thirty-eight offer
five-star facilities, 40 of them are four-star and the remainder
carry three-stars.
The Beijing Tourism Bureau awarded the "green seal" of approval
to 52 of 112 hotels including the Beijing Hotel and Kempinski
Hotel, last year.
"We put in great efforts over the past year to raise our green
standards and make our hotel more environmentally friendly,"
Kempinski public relations manager, Li Shuang said. The hotel now
uses recycled water to flush toilets.
Upgraded electrical equipment and structural changes have helped
these hotels reduce air and noise pollution and cut their energy
consumption, say experts.??
But other small changes are needed to show guests why a hotel
has been granted the "green" tag. For example a hotel has to make
it clear it doesn't serve the meat of animals protected by state
law.
The listed hotels are expected to encourage their guests,
through their services and suggestions, to lead a lifestyle that is
environmentally friendly, Xiang said. For instance if a guest or a
group of guests has ordered enough dishes and wish to order more
waiting staff have to inform them as politely as possible that it's
an avoidable waste.
These hotels would provide about 30,000 rooms to Olympic guests,
Xiang said. The combined capacity of Beijing hotels is
approximately 260,000 rooms.
Approximately 1,500 mainland hotels met the green criteria by
the end 2006.
(China Daily February 2, 2007)
