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Going green for some branded hotels is the request for guests to use less fresh towels and conserve water. Although definitely a step towards conservation, it pales to insignificance when compared to hotels that offer 5-star facilities with little impact on the environment and a concerted effort toward going green.

Leading the way are many hotels in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Rim which have been specifically designed to blend into their surrounding environment. Resort structures have been built sitting on stilts above the ground, ocean or lake, to minimize environmental damage.

These designs enable guests to watch nature from the comfort of their rooms. While staying in a waterfront lodge at Australia's Couran Cove Island Resort, not only was I able to view the fish and bird life but I was treated to the beautiful sight of two kangaroos swimming at sunset.

Couran Cove Island Resort co-exists with the fragile sand eco-system of South Stradbroke Island in Queensland. It has its own water treatment plant and recycling center. As well as a massive worm farm, housed in a barn any farmer would envy, where food scrapes from all the resort's kitchens are composted. To be later used as mulch in the gardens around the resort. Trash is also separated for recycling.

The resort's Nature Lodges, scattered deep in the eucalypt forest, were built around existing trees to maintain the natural beauty of the flora and fauna. The buildings were architecturally designed to take advantage of the sun and wind to minimizes the use of heaters and air-conditioners. Solar heating panels are used for the hot water systems and natural materials such as bamboo flooring and hemp blinds have been used rather than hardwoods and synthetics.

Many new hotels and resorts in the Pacific region are taking up similar practices to Couran Cove in an effort to conserve energy. Some island resorts supply cloth bags to guests in a bid to help with waste management. They request tourists take home any plastic bottles, containers and plastic bags that they bring to the island.

Hopefully as tourists and travelers become more environmentally aware and educated there will be a demand for brand name hotels to do more for the environment than just washing less towels.

Learn more about this author, Belinda Youlten.
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