Environmentally Friendly Green Hotel Practices

Here's How to Take The Earth With You

These tips can make you truly earth-friendly, no matter where you go.

Before You Leave Home

• Turn your water heater to "vacation" or lowest setting
• Turn off AC/heat or adjust the thermostat to protect plants, etc
• Turn water off at outside connection (to prevent flooding should a pipe break while you're gone). When you return, turn on the water slowly and check for problems
• Appliances, such as TVs and cable converter boxes, should be unplugged because they can draw or "leak" as much as 40 watts per hour even when they're off
• Turn your icemaker to the "off" position by lifting the wire. This can prevent flooding should it break while you're away

At 254 South Union Street Guest House

• Participate in our linen program by letting us know if it is necessary to change your sheets and towels every day
• Reduce the amount of water you use for bathing or showering
• When you leave your room, turn off the AC/heat, lights, TV and radio and close the drapes
• Participate in our recycling programs by placing recyclables in appropriate bins
• Leave amenities in the guestroom if unopened
• Patronize hotels, airlines, tour operators who support "greening" programs
• Instead of leaving bathroom lights (and fans) on all night, it's wise to pack night lights for hotel stays
• In any restaurant, refuse Styrofoam. If necessary, travel with your own cup or container for leftovers
• Choose restaurants that serve organic and locally grown food and produce

Here are some Websites that offer green travel information

• Green Hotels in the Green Mountain State: www.vtgreenhotels.org
• The National Geographic site: www.thegreenguide.com
• The EPA site: www.epa.gov
• Chemical cleaning products that are environmentally preferable are best identified as such with third-party certification: www.greenseal.org; www.epa.gov

Send us your green travel tips. We'd like to share them on our site.
Email: inn@254southunion.com

Mission Statement

Sustaining Our Vision With Conscious Effort

We at 254 South Union Street Guest House are guided by the same vision. Our Green program works because we make significant behavioral changes on a daily basis. We started out recycling trash, phones, batteries, buying organic coffees and teas and serving organic foods, purchasing and using only green cleaning products and energy efficient light bulbs. That was the easy part. Then we remodeled all of our bathrooms with water-saving toilets and showers, and installed a new energy efficient heating system, purchased new energy star washers and dryers, repainted and refinished our floors with environmentally friendly products. That was the hard part, and we did it in less than 2 years.

A Commitment to Sparing the Earth and Our Guests

Our commitment to the environment requires both enormous dedication and some real initiative. Back when Green was just a color, we were giving our guests a luxurious experience, while reducing our carbon footprint. Now we’ve gotten better at it, without sacrificing the comfort and enjoyment our guests have come to expect from 254 Guest House. We're doing the Green thing, and we’re doing it without making our guests pay for it.