Greg: First - conventional hostelling -low cost, usually geared towards young people and other budget travellers -shared kitchen: self-catering, make your own food, shared stroage space -shared dorm rooms as cheap option, usually upgrades available for a reasonable price
Greg: Eco-hostels: low footprint living: enrgy and material conservation, waste reduction : imagine CCAT, but as a rental for the night (maybe this is a good idea?) -educational component: educate people as to what they are using, as well as greater environmental and local issue, -DEMONSTRATION: gives people a chance to get hands on, whether its with compost and recycling, or experiencing what building with native or reclaimed materials can be like…
Greg: There is a hint of a movement afoot to create more eco-hostels or retrofit conventional hostels into eco-hostels. This is demonstrated by major Hostel industry player the HI network laying out their environmental charter to set objectives for the greening of the industry: Here’s Hilary to talk about these objectives in detail:
Hilary on 7 Points:
Hilary: Examples of 7 points as demonstrated by the Inn at the Farm:
Greg: Hedonesia is an example of a destination eco-hostel: Exotic tropical local, full demonstration of bambooand reclaimed building, recycling, tropical gardening “ Eco-paradise” Powerful demonstration of what green lodging can look like? --Sunnyside Cabin Recycled/ Reclaimed Materials: Frame from Old Greenhouse Lumber Built Around Abandoned Road Grader, Refurbished Metal Roofing and Plastic Tarp, Shade Cloth, Pallet Floor and Reclaimed Plywood Pieces, Solar Panel Batteries, Recycled Paint -Eco-Shower and Toilet --Recycled/ Reclaimed Materials: Toilet, Lumber, Pallets, Mirrors, Wire Refrigerator Racks, --Plumbing and Bidet, Shower Curtain Screen, Paint, Metal and Fiberglass Roofing, --Solar Water System (panels and holding tank)
Greg: At the other end of the spectrum, we have Boston HI - a conventional hostel with some “green retrofitting” and… “ At HI Boston you will find great recycling stations, energy efficient lighting and appliances, low VOC paint, recyclable carpet, low-flow plumbing, environmental-friendly cleaning products, and motivational signs as reminders to be good stewards of the earth.” -flip flop recycling: -BORING, but, still pretty good…
Greg: Somewhere in between: -Portland hostel doesn’t have tropical pee gardens, or coconut water bidets, but it does make good use of its relevant and visible green demonstration project: -Water runoff is a big deal in Portland due to combined sewer overflow. And it’s rainy there! -They’ve developed in-depth interpretive materials to explian the importance of the project. The City of Portland is encouraging the use of ecoroofs as part of itsefforts to clean and protect our streams and rivers. In urban areas, stormwater runs off hard surfaces like roofs, roads, parking lots, and sidewalks. It is flushed to a network of underground pipes, that eventually dump it all in the urban streams, ruining fish habitat. Ecoroofs, on the other hand, soak up the water and eventually return it to the natural hydrologic cycle, through evaporation and photosynthesis. Ecoroofing is one of several stormwater management approaches that can return a natural healthy watershed to our community.
Hilary on Humboldt Eco-hostel:
Hilary: Details on features of the new eco-hostel:
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