Hey earth muffins! A couple of months ago, I wrote a post about Google Map’s new eco-friendly feature. It is surprisingly easy to turn on the Google Maps eco route feature… Which got me wondering if our favorite search engine had other sustainable abilities. Turns out it does! 😊 Did you know you can find hotels that are “eco-certified” just by searching through Google? Here’s everything you need to know about using this Google hotel sustainability feature.
How to Find “Eco-Certified” Hotels
If you are looking for the top-notch sustainable hotels for your travels, Google can help you out. Hotels labeled with the “eco-certified” label have been certified by an independent organization for meeting certain standards. I tried to look up what organization and standards are used, but couldn’t find any further information. However, it is better to choose an “eco-certified” hotel over a normal one any day.
For step one, head over to google.com/travel. Under the search bar there are categories you can choose from: things to do, flights, hotels, etc. You will need to select “Hotels” which takes you to another search that requires a destination and the dates you are looking to stay. For this post, I pretended I was looking for an eco hotel in Chicago on April 8th-10th.
When your results come up, some hotels will be marked with a green “Eco-certified” leaf label (see picture to the right). To see more details about the sustainability practices, double click on the hotel you are interested in.
This pulls up all the information about the hotel. On the top selection bar, hit the “About” tab. Scroll down to the Sustainability section…. Ta-da! There is everything you need to know about the hotel’s eco practices. I love that they have information in a bunch of different categories: eco certifications, water conservation, sustainable sourcing, energy efficiency, and waste reduction.
How to View Sustainability Practices of Non-Eco Certified Hotels
When your search results come up, none (or only some) of the hotels may be eco-certified. That is okay! 😊 You can still view their Google hotel sustainability. Exactly like above, select the hotel you want to book. Then, hit the “About” tab. Scroll down to the sustainability section to see what they are doing to make your stay more eco-friendly. If there is no sustainability section, head over to the hotel’s website. See if there is information on their website that discusses sustainability. If you still can’t find anything, I would highly suggest picking a different hotel.
Final Thoughts on Google Hotel Sustainability
There you have it – another great Google feature that helps you make the right hotel choice when you travel! I love that this feature is easy to use and summarizes the main sustainability practices of hotels, even when they don’t have that coveted eco-certification! Using the search function is quite simple – have you given it a try? Comment below and let me know the best eco hotels you have stayed at!
Love,
Jenna ♥
