Stepping up the green game

After being in this fabulous city for almost two months, I have to say, it has been a tremendous learning experience for me.

Apart from hopping from one hotel to another around the country, meeting various hotel GMs, DOSes, DOOs, DGMs, VPs and all other corporate acronyms one can think of in order to learn how this industry works, I also discovered that nowhere in Mumbai can one find a pair of Wellies!

While putting this issue together, I also learnt that all hotels in the country are thinking of ways to turn green.

So we sat down with some of the key players in the market and decided to come up with a platform to actually go beyond just “thinking” and attempt to reach, if not an actual solution but a path to finding one. This is where our idea for a Round Table on Stepping up the Green Game was born.

Our cover story this month also revolves around the need of the hour to preserve what resources we have left. While most of our grannies are still making pickles, the age-old importance of preservation continues to go unnoticed.

All hotels seem to be singing a green song, but who’s singing in falseto is still to be seen. Don’t get me wrong, of course, going green isn’t as easy as it sounds.

Unfortunately, a green button hasn’t been invented yet! But much more needs to be done and as you will find in our cover story, many hotels have indeed introduced innovative techniques to save energy and reuse waste and water.

From what I understand, hotel managements have the will and the inclination to take the green agenda forward, but costs, legislation, profits and government policies are holding them back.

Sometimes, it’s hard to see the bigger picture when you’re focusing too close. And maybe that’s what needs to change first. Step back and take a wider look.

The environment is changing, global warming is not a politically-driven conspiracy theory and the arctic is definitely melting.

Stop constructing ugly skywalks across the city, people will survive without mood lighting and start letting your luxury guests know that being environment-friendly is actually cool and you can still enjoy a bath without a rain-shower.

The environment is bigger than us. We depend on it; it doesn’t depend on us. We need to adjust to it not the other way round.

Now if you’ll excuse me… I need to go look for a shop in town that sells Wellies. Any help would be appreciated.