Color My World Transparent Green

When Dale Dental's Dave Lesh told Cal-Lab members in Chicago how much the hotel industry saves every time we don't request fresh towels delivered to our rooms daily, he jokingly suggested we go out of our way to demand them. Under the "guise" of saving the planet by saving water and energy, he said, the industry is saving $250 million a year in towel-and-sheet-reuse programs.

Here's the real point: it's no guise! The fact that hotels can save money and conserve natural resources is fantastic. Dave was pointing out that hotels aren't being "transparent"--the buzz word in Washington these days--about how these towel-and-sheet-reuse programs also augment their bottom lines.

For many years it was a struggle to be environmentally responsible without cutting too deeply into profit margins but this has changed and continues to evolve. Industry has finally found ways to protect our environment and save money at the same time. It isn't an either/or consideration; we don't have...