Eco-luxe. Eco-plus. It doesn’t have to be all deprivation and short showers. You can be ecologically minded and eco-friendly and also luxurious. In fact (sigh), sometimes it seems like the more money you have, the more sustainable you can be.
With all the money in the world, after all, it’s easy to off-set your carbon emissions by planting trees. You can afford to buy an electric vehicle. And you can pay someone to do your grocery shopping on foot with a wagon in tow.
(I used to buy groceries that way when my kids were little, piling them into the wagon on the way down our steep hill, and then making them walk and help me push the grocery-filled wagon on the way back up the hill.)
My article in the New York Times travel section is all about being eco-minded and luxurious at the same time. Eco-luxe.
Hotels in the Pacific Northwest are knocking this out of the park. Eco-luxe hotels in Oregon and Northern California are leading the trend to be UPSCALE and SUSTAINABLE.
They’re not just greenwashing, they are actually making substantial changes that save thousands of pounds of trash from the landfill and could affect the entire hotel industry, if other luxury hotels would follow their lead.
Read the article, Northwest Hotels go Eco-Plus.
Published: October 15, 2010
Last update: January 22, 2020
Christine says
This is so cool! I love these behind-the scenes photos – now I’m off to reread the article again.
Alexandra says
Thanks for reporting on this important trend. I hope your article will inspire hotel owners in other parts of the country.
Sheryl says
What wonderful photos! And, I really enjoyed reading your NYT article, too. If I’m ever in the area, I know just where to go.
Melanie @ Frugal Kiwi says
Cute. Love seeing some of the back story since I enjoyed the NYT article so much.
Susan says
Loved the article! Congrats! I also love how you bring along your kids on reporting assignments so they get some quality Mom time. I bet they’re getting to see all kinds of cool stuff (but if they’re like I was, they may appreciate it more in retrospect).