I can see how some travelers could get cynical about hotels' "environmental" efforts. I try to be a green consumer in hotels, turning off lights when I'm not using them and even turning off the shower while I'm soaping or scrubbing, the way I do at home. I would appreciate recycling and compact fluorescents, especially if they saved me money.

But too often hotels are just being cheap when they refuse to change linens every day. For example, the dreadful overpriced hotel where I stayed in San Diego last year (part of a major chain), which had a little sign to be put on the bed to request to have the sheets changed. My sheets got sandy one night after I'd been to the beach so I put the sign in place to get them changed, but I came back the next night to the same sandy sheets. It seems that housekeeping doesn't even bother to carry clean sheets, figuring that nobody will bother to put the sign on the bed.

Oh, and about the shampoo bottles? People aren't opening a new one every day, they're packing them away to take home. Not that I'd mind not getting them--hotel shampoo is usually formulated for men's hair, so I always bring my own.

I wonder if this survey was worded oddly. Or perhaps, given to a support group for clean freaks. There is no way 30% of people change there sheets at home daily. This makes no sense. So I wonder how much else is valid. Though I can say one of my favorite indulgences at hotels is a super hot shower. We have small kids and have set our water heater low so they can never be scalded. Hotels almost always have steaming hot water which I love.
I also wonder if the new liquid rules on planes are changing how much shampoo and soap hotels are using for their guests. I always used to bring my own but now if I can get away with not checking bags then I use what the hotel provides.

I do not open a new bottle of hotel shampoo every day, yet the cleaning staff keeps giving me a new bottle. This has happened in a lot of hotels. I used to take the extras home, but the new FAA rules make that more of a pain.

Absolutely not necessary to change my sheets every day of my stay. And the towels are ok if they dry before I need them again. But I would like a fresh bedspread and blanket when I arrive, and I don't think I'm getting that now.

I do not know anyone who changes their bed linens at home every day!

A habit is a habit. If you soap up and then turn on the shower to rinse; if you turn off the running water while brushing your teeth; if you turn off unnecessary lights, recycle, etc. it shouldn't matter where you are. Why would you think twice about it?

Honestly, I'd like to change my towels every day. But guilt means it's more like once every three. I think some people on the survey focused on the "towels" part of the question.

I am green at home and have been for years, but when I am at a hotel I have to admit that I am slightly different. After paying hundreds of dollars for one night I want to take a longer shower and have clean towels. I don't need clean sheets every day - every 2-3 days is fine. I want to come into a cool room in the middle of summer when there is air-conditioning. I rarely stay in a hotel and it is a time for a little spoiling. I am not going to feel guilty about it either.

Anne, I am not convinced that the hotel staff is reusing the towels. I always hang them up with the intention to use them again, and when I come back to the room, the towels are dry and folded on the top of the rack. I am suspicious that they are substituting new towels (this happens in pretty much every hotel I've stayed in) not reusing the old ones.

I'm a little more wasteful in hotels than at home, though in my defense here are a few factors that warrant that:

1) Safety. Hotel rooms aren't as private as your home, and you've got the cleaning staff and who knows who else poking around. Makes it easy for a burglar to slip in and out quickly. So yeah, I like to leave a light or two on, and depending on the circumstances maybe the TV or radio, too, just to make it look like somebody's home when I'm not there.

2) Convenience. Ever notice how hotel room light switches don't turn on half the lights in the room? Some of these lights, once I figure out how to turn them on they stay on for awhile.

3) Cleanliness. Honestly, nobody replaces their own towels and sheets every day, but most of us use the same things over and over because we're the only ones using it. I'm wary enough as it is of hotel towels and sheets without encouraging them to recycle the same uncleaned ones. I'll happily reuse the same towels if I know they're mine, but hotels still often replace them and I don't have a big problem with that.

Wow! I can't believe it.

"62.5 percent of folks agreed that "When I stay in a hotel one reason I use water and energy less efficiently is because I don't have to pay for it."

How do people not get it?

Anne is so right on.

"The problem is that we're all paying for it with the most precious thing we have: our natural resources."

I for one will definitely be taking advantage of places like Elements and other Green travel spots like them in the future.

I agree with csdiego, we are saving the hotels money, but they see no reason to pass these savings on. I have been very cynical of this "enviromental effort" since it caught on so quickly. How many hotels have adopted more costly methods to help the environment, such as internal hallways? Element Hotels finally seems to have the right idea.

Also, SSMD is right in the fact that the towels are always refolded, making me wonder if they just replaced them.

I believe much of the survey because we often say what we want others to do, and don't do what we say. The little cards are not taken seriously by most and Yes, the maids often feel they need to change the towels to avoid being called back. I stay at timeshares and they don't change the linens except once per week and everyone expects it. I would like to see better sanitation when it comes to the bed spreads - they are usually a breeding groud of bacteria and bugs. Does the hotel actually just pocket the money? Not really, the hotel business is still very competitive so you are still saving although it is not always obvious. The bottom line is that we always need to try to conserve even if the other guy wins.

You know what the solution to all of this is? Just put the DO NOT DISTURB sign on the door. Problem solved! When you want them to replace the sheets, towels, etc, take off the sign. This solves the problem of questioning whether they're reusing dirty towels, or giving you clean ones when you actually don't want one, or whatever other crazy fears people on here have. Personally, I don't like having housekeepers "straightening" my stuff on the bathroom sink, clothes on the floor, etc. So I use the do not disturb sign every time I travel.