Dirty Laundry

For the past three years or so hotels have been asking me to do my part in saving the environment by sleeping on dirty sheets. As I don't change the sheets at home daily, and don't really find that I am noticeably dirtier while away than at home, I agree and find that I am no worse off for having slept on the same sheets I used the night before. My husband has not mentioned any odor, nor have I of him, so in general I find that we are adjusting well and eager to do our part.

But there I stand, hesitating over the garbage with my water bottle, certain that in such an environmentally conscious hotel recycling bins would be provided. They are not. And when I finish with the darling little plastic bottle of shampoo they have left just for my use? Garbage. I am but one person with a reasonable amount of hair, imagine how many of those small plastic bottles are tossed each week? There is a plastic liner in the ice bucket, a plastic liner in the garbage, and small paper box containing a plastic shower cap on the bathroom vanity. The lights are on when we come in, as is the mood music. If, for the greater good, we are willing to spend a day covered in our own dead skin cells, why then can they not provide a place to recycle the waste we accumulate as their guests? Why can't they turn off the lights?

It does not stop with sheets. Clean towels are also considered a frivolous waste, long gone are the days when you could wildly toss your daily towel onto the bathroom floor without thought of world destruction. Naturally the hotels I seem to stay in are older than this new wave of acceptable dirtiness and thus, have nowhere to hang your damp bath towel. Draping my towel over the doorknob is unacceptable, and disgusting. The hook on the door is usually busy holding up that comfy robe they leave for my use. Other options include the back of the desk chair and the doors of the closet; both filthy, and just waiting to share their accumulated germs with my now wet towel. Please provide a suitable towel bar and I will happily hang my towel to dry. Until then it hits the floor.

Undoubtedly installing towel racks and buying recycling bins would cost money, although I would think they are saving a good deal of money, and energy, in not washing my sheets every day. Lord knows I'm no financial genius, but it might be worth the investment. In the end, of course, it's all about the green.