Double standards come out in the wash

Summer is for traveling! And, for me, confusion on this whole green issue.

I recently stayed at a lovely hotel that has a Four Diamond rating-- the InterContinental in Kansas City. The service was impeccable, and the rooms were clean and stylish. It was very enjoyable.

I did have one big gripe about my stay. In my room there was the standard nature-embellished plastic placard that proudly proclaims the hotel is conservation-minded.

You know the drill. “We want to save water and the planet, so please reuse your towels. Yadda, yadda, yadda.”

I don’t have a problem with that.

Here’s my gripe. If you chose to wash your hands in any of the common rest rooms, there were no air dryers or paper towels. Instead there were mounds of fluffy wash cloths. (No, they weren’t disposable.)

So I shouldn’t have my room towels laundered, but I have to dirty a wash cloth every time I wash my hands elsewhere? I was there for a three-day conference. You do the math.

I was going to steal the sign, but then I felt eco-guilty. After all, I’d be wasting paper, ink and laminate if the hotel had to create a new one.

-- Jyme