UF Professor Takes Pulse of Caribbean Efforts

The accommodation industry in the tourist-heavy Caribbean region has started on an environmentally conscious or “green” campaign to lessen stresses on natural resources, according to a recent University of Florida (UF) study. The study found that two-thirds of 197 hotels in 19 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean are taking steps to protect the environment, from changing linens less often to urging guests to recycle. It also found that success in environmentally-friendly reform often was pegged to a “green champion,” an individual in the workplace who pushed for green practices.

“This is a real effort by hotels at all levels to try to minimize, to reduce, to mitigate their influence on the environment,” said Mechelle Best, who completed the study for her doctoral dissertation at the College of Health and Human Performance at UF and who is currently assistant professor at California State University at Northridge.

Even if hotels did not begin comprehensive environmental programs, they still enjoyed benefits—such as reduced resource use and decreased operating costs—from the green practices that were put into place, the study also found. Environmental management or “greening” can range from a comprehensive system undertaken by a hotel, to informal practices undertaken by individuals on an as-needed basis, Best said. To read the complete article, click here.