Hotels in Asia, being GREEN or Not Green?

Elsewhere in the world, the movement has already caught fire. with concerns about climate change entering the mainstream, a cavalcade of hotels in Europe, Australia and the United States- from multinational heavyweights to family-run properties- have rallied around the environment over the past two years. international hotel chains such as IHG, Accor, Hilton and Marriott have pledged to embrace sustainable design- which means tapping into renewable energy sources, recycling wastewater, and using only certified, farmed wood or recycled building materials- and to reduce the carbon footprints at their existing properties.
That's not the case in much of Asia. Although the more developed markets- Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan- have certification systems for green buildings and stricter building codes in general, these rarely apply in the countries where tourism is booming- Thailand, Vietnam, cambodia. But that hasn't stopped some developers and operators from flagging " carbon-friendly", "sustainable" and other eco buzzwords in their brochures and websites in an effort to paint themselves green. Dig a bit deeper and ask a few questions, and you might discover that only thing sustainable about that new "eco" hotel is that they ask guests to use towels more than once- by now, a standard at most properties- or they buy some carbon credits to offset their emissions. That's why GreenLeaf Foundation, Australia's Green Globe and U.S. based Sustainable Tourism Initiative- are valuable: they help ensure that customers aren't being taken for a ride.
But for many hotels in Asia, being GREEN just isn't a priority, partly because the public isn't demanding accountability and partly because of the perception that being environmentally friendly costs too much money. It's especially costly when it comes to upgrading older properties. John Koldowski, research department from the Pacific and Asia Travel Association asserted: "Within the Asian context, there are many people out there who haven't taken the mantle and are running with it. But the critical mass of awareness (among hotels) isn't there."
Article adapted from Magazine Travel+Leisure the Green Issue