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September 22, 2008

Beds, Baths & Bottle Bins: When Will US Hotels Start Recycling?

Trans-Canadian Roadtrip, originally uploaded by perlgurl.org.

In case you hadn't figured this out yet... we travel a lot. And regardless of whether we're backpacking or roadtripping or on safari, we try to live by the mantra: Pack Out Your Trash.

About two years ago, we spent two weeks on Maui, Hawaii. We were there for a wedding of a friend and we had been there before. We had a plan to keep costs down without messing with the relaxation aspects of our trip.

When we first arrived, we stopped at the grocery store and got some basic food supplies, including several boxes of bottled/canned drinks. We often travel this way, keeping the incidental costs down so we can splurge on others-for example, buy a pack of soda ($2.99 for six) instead of ordering one at the swim-up bar ($6 each). This allows us to spend our money on a really nice dinner instead, like going to Mama's Fish House.

So we arrived at our swanky hotel on the Kaanapali strip and hauled our stuff up to a beautiful room with an amazing view of the Pacific Ocean off Black Rock. The hotel complex, designed to suck your wallet dry every time you get hungry or thirsty, did not have recycling facilities anywhere onsite for guests.

We asked. Not even behind the scenes. We sent a letter to the hotel management suggesting they install recycle bins near the ice machines (unobtrusive but available, right next to the soda machines dispensing bottles and cans), but never received a reply.

So we enjoyed our time on Maui, hiking, snorkeling and going to a beautiful wedding on the beach...And we hoarded our recycling like chipmunks hoard nuts for the winter.

Because you're never far from the coast, it's very important to keep trash under control so it doesn't pollute the coastline-the lifeblood of the economy. The Hawaiian economy relies heavily on its environment. Tourism, fishing, and farming make up a substantial part how locals make a living. It rains all the time and runoff spills straight into the ocean.

A bunch of small islands, Hawaii has specialized waste management needs and instead of landfills, most towns have transfer stations. A lot of the waste is shipped back to the mainland.

Recycling is a big deal for locals. However, the importance is not reflected anywhere for the tourists. Hotels seem to think that part of the definition of luxury is excess, not troubling their guests with such trivialities as recycling.

Except that it was a concern to us NOT having recycling.

The hotels were not devoid of "green" features. A little card informing us about the shortage of fresh water on the Islands suggested we only have our towels and sheets washed when necessary. We were happy to oblige. But we wanted to keep our various and sundry granola bar boxes, paper, bottles and cans out of the trash.

On our last day, with a bag full of recycling, we were forced to take desperate measures. On the way to the airport, we stopped our rental car by the transfer station and asked to be allowed to recycle. We got a few funny looks, but they let us in without any fee or permit. The facility attendant thanked us for "doing the right thing".

If only doing the "right" thing was more convenient, a lot more people would participate. People come to Hawaii to swim in the warm waters and they won't do so if it's polluted. Instead of cleaning up after tourists, why not allow them the ability to keep their own impact minimal for future visitors and the locals who live there.

Leave no trace applies not just to hikers and backpackers. It always applies!

This past summer, we drove across Canada on a roadtrip. We stayed in the same hotel chain and low and behold: every single hotel room we stayed at in Canada had a recycle bin. As we were roadtripping in a tiny convertible, we were ecstatic to have readily available recycling-at rest stops and at hotels, where we knew for sure that our recyclable waste was not going straight to a landfill.

My friend, fresh back from Hawaii, with a killer tan reports: Still no readily available recycling in the Islands.

Posted by sorsha at September 22, 2008 8:26 AM