Check in to Greener Hotels and Restaurants

"Quite simply, our business practices are destroying life on earth," says Paul Hawken in his book The Ecology of Commerce (HarperCollins, 1993). But it doesn't have to be this way, and for some businesses it isn't.

Recycling programs are catching on throughout Canadian hotels and restaurants. In an attempt to reduce the 1.1 million tons of waste currently sent to landfills, the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association and BC & Yukon Hotels' Association are coordinating organic waste-recycling services for their members with Smithrite Disposal Ltd. Smithrite provides the recycling bins and handles pick-up and transport of the waste to Sea to Sky Organics in Squamish, BC. Since June 2005, over 100 organizations in the Lower Mainland have joined the program. This heightened ecological awareness isn't reserved for western Canada. Quebec's Le Chateau Montebello has constructed a composting site which will be used to fertilize and mulch its herb garden. Since composting detracts from landfill fees, these actions reward individuals as much as the environment. The HotelAssociation of Canada's Green Leaf Eco-Rating program identifies hotels committed to improving their environmental performance. Eco-rated hotels not only save money, but they can also gain valuable market share by providing clients with a credible, third-party audit of their facility.

Clearly, business and environment can be healthy partners.