Tag: water conservation

Green Travel Series: Hotels

When you’re reserving a hotel room, you’re probably not thinking about
whether your room has a low-flow toilet. Little by little, hotels are
making changes like that to lighten their environmental impact.
Rebecca Williams reports it’s not always easy for travelers to know how
green a hotel is:

Transcript

When you’re reserving a hotel room, you’re probably not thinking about
whether your room has a low-flow toilet. Little by little, hotels are
making changes like that to lighten their environmental impact.
Rebecca Williams reports it’s not always easy for travelers to know how
green a hotel is:


“This is our one washer where we do all our laundry, it’s running 24
hours a day.”


Gail Vantiem manages the front office for this Courtyard Marriott:


“We had 100 checkouts this morning so at least 300 towels need to be
done and put into the rooms today.”


And a lot of those towels could’ve been reused. Most of us might see
those little cards talking about reusing your towels and feel a little
twinge of guilt. But when people stay in a hotel they often take extra
long showers and use a bunch of towels. It feels like vacation.


But cutting back on the laundry load makes a lot of sense for a hotel.
It saves energy, water and of course, money.


Some hotels are trying to do more. They’re trying to find a balance
between giving you a comfortable stay and being more energy and water
conscious without doing anything that will inconvenience their guests.


This Marriott in suburban Detroit is being renovated. Gail Vantiem
says they’ve swapped the traditional lightbulbs for more efficient
compact fluorescents. They’ve installed low flow toilets and
showerheads.


After a guest checks out, the room is cleaned and the heat or air
conditioning and lights are turned off to save energy. Vantiem says
that’s where they’ve had the most public relations work to do:


“The number one complaint is the heat’s not working in the room in the
winter months. It’s just the way you explain to the guest, oh you know
we’re trying to conserve.”


But when it comes down to it, hotels are there to cater to their
guests’ needs. That might mean wanting fresh towels and sheets every
single day. Vantiem says it can be a tough thing for hotel managers to
balance:


“That’s the hospitality business, that’s what we’re here for, if they
don’t want it done we can’t change people’s minds by any means and we
don’t try.”


But some people say hotels can save a lot of money by trying.


Linda Chipperfield is vice president of marketing and outreach for
Green Seal. It’s an independent group that certifies hotels that have
a lighter environmental impact:


“The average hotel purchases more products in one week than 100
families will purchase over a whole year.”


Besides fresh towels and sheets every day, there are all those little
soaps and bottles of shampoo.


Chipperfield says hotels stand to save thousands of dollars each year
by reducing energy and water use. But she says on the whole, the hotel
industry has been slow to change:


“The more pillows there are on the bed, the more towels there are in
the bathroom, the more it’s perceived luxurious, it’s perceived as a
higher quality hotel. It really is a challenge for a hotel to create
different ways to make guests comfortable and portray the image of
luxury but try to save energy at the same time.”


Chipperfield says the key is to do some things that are visible to the
guests – like a towel reuse program. And also do some things that are
under the radar – like installing low-flow toilets that work just as
well as the traditional toilets.


But as a traveler, it’s not easy to know whether a hotel’s really
green, or if it just has a great marketing team. Even some hotels that
are doing a lot aren’t talking about it on their own websites.


Kim Solem is with Expedia. She says travel websites like hers are
struggling with how to rate green hotels. She says there’s no simple
way to judge who’s doing what:


“Right now there are several sets of standards in existence and they
vary by region so it’s pretty difficult for a traveler to understand
just what shade of green a hotel is or to compare one hotel against
another. So our goal is to get to a place where hotels are evaluated
on a standard, very comprehensive point system.”


Solem says she’d like to see a system that grades hotels on a 1 to 100
point scale. And have a little green icon by the ones doing the best
job.


But Solem says that’s at least a couple years off.


In the meantime, if you’re really curious, you can call the hotel
directly. You can ask what they’re doing to cut down on waste, energy
and water. And once you get there, you can hang your towels up for one
more use.


For the Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

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Efficient Faucets

There’s a new federal program aimed at encouraging more water conservation at your
bathoom faucet. Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

There’s a new federal program aimed at encouraging more water conservation at your
bathoom faucet. Chuck Quirmbach reports:


The US Environmental Protection Agency has issued specifications for bathroom faucet
manufacturers to qualify for the agency’s WaterSense label. The EPA wants about a 30
percent reduction in water flow from conventional models.


Kohler corporation engineer Rob Zimmerman says the smaller size of the flow restrictor
inside the faucet’s aerator will be the key to hitting the new target. He acknowledges some
water utilities wanted the new flow limit to be one gallon per minute, instead of the 1.5
per gallon limit specified by the EPA:


“The WaterSense program is flexible enough that as technology improves, they can change the
specification, but at this point the 1.5 was what everyone agreed to.”


The EPA says consumers will also save energy by heating and treating less water.


For The Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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Warming to Change Great Lakes Ecosystem?

Some researchers say global warming will impact fish habitat in the
Great Lakes. Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

Some researchers say global warming will impact fish habitat in the
Great Lakes. Chuck Quirmbach reports:


Some scientists have projected that more global warming will mean less
rain and snow falling into the Great Lakes and the continuation
of low water levels.


Researcher Brian Shuter is with the Ontario Ministry of Natural
Resources. He says if the projection comes true, there will be
more stress on the millions of Great Lakes fish:


“I mean the space for fish to live in is just gonna shrink and the less
space there is, the less fish there will be.”


Shuter also anticipates higher summertime water temperatures and less
ice cover in the lakes. That’s a change that could lead to more warm
water fish like bass and fewer of the cold water fish like salmon
and trout that people like to eat.


Shuter says the change could also promote the growth of invasive
species that favor warmer water temperatures. So, he encourages tighter
controls on invasives and more water conservation programs.


For the Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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Protecting Water Supplies

Water is a vital resource no matter where you go. Commentator Cameron Davis recently had a first hand look at the threats to water supplies in other parts of the world. He returned from his trip with a renewed sense of the importance of protecting water supplies at home:

Transcript

Water is a vital resource no matter where you go. Commentator Cameron Davis recently had a first hand look at the threats to water supplies in other parts of the world. He returned from his trip with a renewed sense of the importance of protecting water supplies at home:


Not so long ago, my wife and I bought a couple of cheap one-direction tickets and ventured around the world to 11 countries in 11 weeks.


I couldn’t help but be reminded that we’re blessed when it comes to water where we live. My home is near the Great Lakes – with nearly 20 percent of the Earth’s fresh surface water.


Other areas of the world aren’t so fortunate. India struggles with water issues every day. The sacred Ganges River, which flows downward through the majestic upper Himalayas, is used for everything from ferrying the souls of the dead into their next life to the holy Hindu Aarti ritual in which millions of people wade annually for prayer. At the same time the Ganges is revered, it’s also used for sewage and waste disposal, to the point that if the Ganges flowed through the United States, it would violate water quality standards many times over.


In Vietnam, we learned that groundwater levels were dropping precipitously in the Bac Lieu Province. Few laws existed to protect aquifers from businesses that drilled to provide water to the aquaculture industry, namely for farm-raised shrimp. The practices were expected to have impacts on the fragile ecology of the Mekong Delta.


All of this was going on at the very same time that King Abdullah II of Jordan was convening the International Water Demand Management Conference in the Middle East and beyond.


While we’re hardly immune from water pressures and mismanagement here at home, we have some important opportunities to give something back to future generations. The Great Lakes states are contemplating policy changes that might be a model for the rest of the nation. In the coming years, the legislatures of the eight Great Lakes states must consider protections under a Great Lakes water use “Compact” that the governors of the eight states signed last December.


The only question is whether we’ll ensure these new protections are strong enough, or whether they’ll slip to the lowest common denominator of protections. After seeing how water is honored yet misused in many other parts of the world, I’m hopeful we’ll do the right thing. And in so doing, give other states and regions in the U.S. some ideas for better water conservation. After all, water is one of those rare things that bring us – all of us, from all walks of life – together to form a common regional identity. Our waters are more than a resource for us to use and protect. They’re the source of life.


Cameron Davis is the president of the Alliance for the Great Lakes.

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New Bottling Plant Stirs Water Debate

  • A test well being dug in preparation for the construction of the Ice Mountain bottling plant. Perrier hopes to have the plant up and running by next spring. Photo by Patrick Owen/MLUI.

Is Great Lakes water for sale? That’s the issue on the table in Michigan right now, where the Perrier Group of America has begun construction on a 100 million dollar water bottling operation. Last year, government officials in Wisconsin rejected a similar proposal from Perrier. The Michigan plan has sparked local opposition and more. The start of the plant’s construction has given birth to concerns about whether groundwater in Great Lakes states should be considered part of the Great Lakes water basin. And if it is, some question whether it should be for sale. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Matt Shafer Powell reports:

Transcript

Is Great Lakes water for sale? That’s the issue on the table in Michigan right now, where the Perrier Group of America has begun construction on a 100 million dollar water bottling operation. Last year, government officials in Wisconsin rejected a similar proposal from Perrier. The Michigan plan has sparked local opposition and more. The start of the plant’s construction has given birth to concerns about whether groundwater in Great Lakes states should be considered part of the Great Lakes water basin. And if it is, some question whether it should be for sale. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Matt Shafer Powell reports.


Eight Mile Road in rural Mecosta County, Michigan is one of the area’s busier roads, one of the few ways to get to the interstate. It’s surrounded by thousands of acres of farmland. And at its peak, you can see the Little Muskegon River Valley as it stretches for miles across this point where Michigan becomes Northern Michigan.


(sound of construction)


When Perrier Group Project Manager Brendan O’Rourke saw this stretch of Eight Mile Road, he knew that it would be the perfect place for Perrier’s new Ice Mountain spring water bottling operation.


“Clearly, it’s a beautiful place to live and work, it has abundant natural spring water, the highway system allows for easy access to the marketplace, there’s an available work force and there’s high quality spring water.”


But local resident Terry Swier rarely uses Eight Mile Road anymore. She says it upsets her too much to see the walls of the Perrier plant rising out of what was once a cornfield. Swier is president of the group Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, a group that formed out of citizen opposition to the plant. Since December, Swier says her group has attracted more than 12-hundred local residents. Most of them are concerned about how local streams, rivers and lakes will be affected by an operation that plans to pump more than 700-thousand gallons of water a day from the ground. But despite her efforts to stop the plant’s construction, work has continued and the plant should be ready to begin operation next Spring.


“It’s just very frustrating how they have the arrogance to say that ‘we can proceed.’ It’s like not even paying attention to the people who are here in the area.”


Perrier officials insist the company has made every effort to listen to local residents and address their concerns. They say they’ve done studies that show the environmental impact will be minimal. And they say the extra 600-thousand dollars a year in tax revenue the plant will generate will go a long way in Mecosta County. Local government officials agree. But Mecosta Township Supervisor John Boyd says he’s more excited by the possibility that Perrier may bring up to 200 new jobs to the area.


“I’ve been to meetings and they say ‘Well, what’s the tax base, what’d you gain on the tax base?’ and I say ‘Hell, I ain’t even looked at it’, because basically, we’re looking for good jobs that sustain people, that will let our kids stay here, stay in the community, and last, we’re looking for a business that will be here tomorrow when we’re gone.”


But construction of the plant and local opposition to it are only the starting points for an issue that has reached far beyond the farmlands of Mecosta County. That’s because the natural springs that lie beneath the ground there feed into the Little Muskegon River, which in turn, feeds into Lake Michigan. Of primary concern to critics is a federal law that requires the approval of all eight Great Lakes governors for any water diversion from the Great Lakes basin. In September, Michigan’s attorney general concluded that the groundwater in Mecosta County should indeed be considered Great Lakes water, and its sale should be approved by the governors. Michigan’s Governor John Engler, though, disagrees on both points and has even offered Perrier nearly ten million dollars in tax breaks. That’s something that frustrates Keith Schneider, of the Michigan Land Use Institute.


“If states are approving diversions of Great Lakes water, they need to consult each other. And the reason they need to consult each other is because we sit on the largest source of fresh water on the planet and this resource is getting ever more valuable. I mean we’re essentially the Saudi Arabia of water here.”


If it’s proven nothing else, the controversy over the Perrier plant has exposed the lack of solid, enforceable groundwater policy throughout the Great Lakes. But in Michigan, that may be changing. In the state capitol of Lansing, various legislative and environmental groups have already begun to unveil their own water control packages—they include everything from the abolishment of tax breaks for companies that bottle water to mandatory assurances that local water quality won’t be sacrificed by those companies. And some groups are calling for a law that would require companies that sell water to pay royalties in the same way that oil and gas companies do now. If it’s ever passed, such a royalty would put a definitive value on water as a natural resource. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Matt Shafer Powell in Mecosta County, Michigan.

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COLLEGES FAILING GREEN TEST? (Short Version)

A new report is giving mixed reviews to the environmental efforts on college campuses. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jonathan Ahl has more:

Transcript

A new report is giving mixed reviews to the environmental efforts on college campuses. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jonathan Ahl reports.

The report card from the National Wildlife Federation gives A’s to schools for their work on energy efficiency and water conservation. But the schools receive B’s and C’s for poor landscaping practices and transportation issues. Tom Lowe is a Dean at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. He says campuses must be models for environmental improvements, especially those that can save money in the long run.


“For a corporation, the idea that you could make money by greater environmental stewardship is sort of counter to what they traditionally think. So we have to be the model for that to demonstrate that it is possible.”


The report also shows schools are doing a good job at recycling, but a poor job in making sure they buy recycled products. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Jonathan Ahl.

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Is Groundwater Fair Game?

In Michigan, the Perrier Group of America is building a water bottling plant near the town of Big Rapids. It’s a project that has raised the ire of local environmental groups, and it’s raised the question of whether groundwater in Great Lakes states should be for sale. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Matt Shafer Powell has the story:

Transcript

In Michigan, the Perrier Group of America is building a water bottling plant near the town of Big Rapids. It’s a project that has raised the ire of local environmental groups. And it’s raised the question of whether groundwater in Great Lakes states should be for sale. Michigan Radio’s Matt Shafer Powell reports.

Perrier hopes to pump water from the ground, bottle it and sell it.
Terry Swier is President of the Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation.
Despite assurances from Perrier, she worries that a plant that pumps more than 700-thousand gallons of water a day will steal water from the area’s lakes and wetlands…

“We are not just talking about the water for the people. We’re also talking about the water for the fish, the mosquitoes, the deer, all of the environment”


But the issue has grown beyond the local impact. Within a few weeks, officials from the Michigan Attorney General’s office hope to release a report on the topic. The question is whether federal law allows Great Lakes governors to prohibit the sale of groundwater-the way they can with Great Lakes water. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Matt Shafer Powell.

Governments to Meter Water Use?

From industrial processing to backyard pools, millions of gallons
of Great Lakes water are used everyday. And for many people in the
region, that water is cheap. They live in towns where they pay a flat
rate
no matter how much they use. That’s something the International Joint
Commission wants to change. It’s asking governments to start charging
people – and industry – for the real cost of their water. The Great
Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports:

Intimate Disclosure

Warm weather means sprinklers, car washings, and
jumbo plastic pools. In the Great Lakes region, where water is
virtually everywhere, we sometimes need to be reminded that water is a
precious resource. Great Lakes Radio Consortium commentator, Julia
King, can think of at least one way to conserve – but technology is
thwarting her effort: