Vacation tips: Ways to have eco-friendly holiday

New Delhi: From not asking for bedsheets and toiletries unnecessarily to making good use of door cards, there are many ways one can make a vacation eco-friendly while having fun, say experts.

Cecilia Oldne, Vice President - Marketing and Global Brand Ambassador, Sula Vineyards, lists down tips to make a vacation eco-friendly.

Don'ts

* Ask for fresh bedsheets and towels if not really necessary: A lot of water gets wasted in order to wash the bedsheets and towels. Many times it also happens that the guests don't realise and end up requesting for fresh towels and bedsheets when completely unnecessarily. Being conscious about what you request for will lead to a more eco-friendlier space and help reducing carbon-footprints that today stand as a cause of destruction of our planet.

* Ask for more toiletries: Almost all of us at some point of time have taken that shampoo we liked so much and kept it in our bags. A lot of hotels actually prefer to refill the bottles with shampoos and save the cost of buying another plastic bottle, you can do your bit to save that extra plastic bottle and make that bit of difference too.

* Leave the power connection turned on: Leaving your room without turning off the lights or taking that key card out of the power socket in a country where we have witnessed power cuts to so many villages. Take the responsibility and don't waste that energy for no use.

Dos

* Make use of door cards: We often ignore doors cards and directly call up the housekeeping to get cleaning done. Door cards can be really useful when you don't want the housekeeping to clean your unsoiled bedsheets or towels by putting the 'Do not disturb' card at the knob. This way the housekeeping will not enter your room and save that precious water.

* Make use of the water from the restaurant or hotel: The essence of not purchasing that bottled water and going for the tap water instead lies in saving your own carbon footprint. Plastic is also absolutely non-perishable and hence it really helps to use that water jug.

* Use water carefully: Don't keep the tap on unnecessarily while using the bathrooms be it for brushing your teeth or taking bath.

Sonale Zagade, Director of Rooms, Hyatt Regency Mumbai, and experts at Grand Hyatt, Mumbai, have also listed out some tips for sustainability vacation.

* Use fruit card to offer fruits only on request instead of regular basis. This helps reduce food wastage.

* Pick hotels with sustainability initiatives which includes the installation of energy efficient lights, occupancy sensors, faucet aerators, low flow fixtures such as showerheads and rain water capture systems.