Green hotel

There is a growing trend in the lodging industry to ask guests to reuse their sheets and towels for a few days to help the environment.

You've probably seen the eco-notes left in the rooms.

One Washington DC landmark is taking this program even further and hoping to demonstrate the hospitality of going green.

The historic Williard Hotel is an iconic beauty along Washington's boulevards.

And this is the laundry room. With 100,000 guests a year overnighting in its 370 rooms, that's a lot of dirty sheets and towels going through the wash everyday all day.

Well, the Williard Hotel is starting a new environmental program that will attack the issue of waste from the ground up.

"We want to look at the future or the next 100 years and bring another legacy."

To help the environment, houdrey has come up with a new mission statement for the Williard hotel that considers the planet.

"I believe in the sentence that one person can make a difference."

To make a difference, guests find an engraved message in the bathroom giving them the opportunity to reuse their towels.

The money saved by not washing those towels everyday is donated to a group that cleans the Anacostia River.

One bulb can make a difference, so the Williard replaced regular lightbulbs with fluorescent ones that use significantly less energy and last for years.

And to spread the word, they've come up with conservation tips for their customers to take with them.

"We just try to give them ideas to be more green. I would call it citizens of the world."

The Williard Hotel's strategy started with Project Planet, a program created ten years ago for the Intercontinental hotel chain.

Colorful markers encouraged guests to use their towels and sheets for a few days to save water. Project Planet says most people participate.

"You know, we don't change our linens at home everyday. So when you participate in this program at a hotel, you are helping one average sized hotel save six thousand gallons of water a month."

There are now 5,000 hotels around the world participating in this one program. Many of them are here in our area.

At the Williard, Houdry says he's not done. Next year, he plans to create an eco floor in the hotel that will be an even more comprehensive model for sustainability.

He also wants to bring organic food to the restaurant and eventually start an organic farm nearby so the food doesn't have to travel far.

The luxury of ecology. And to think, it all started with some damp towels.

Project Planet estimates an average hotel saves $20,000 dollars in energy costs each year with this program.