首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
It Ain’t Easy Being Green Over the summer, I stayed at four hotels in the United States. They were all owned by different co
It Ain’t Easy Being Green Over the summer, I stayed at four hotels in the United States. They were all owned by different co
admin
2013-07-11
66
问题
It Ain’t Easy Being Green
Over the summer, I stayed at four hotels in the United States. They were all owned by different companies, but they had one thing in common: A little card on the bathroom counter telling me that the establishment was very concerned about the environment, and appealing to me to do my part to help them save the earth by hanging up my wet towels and using them again the next day. Two of the hotels also placed a card next to the bed informing me that housekeeping would not change the sheets unless I left the card on the pillow.
It is true that keeping all those towels clean requires an enormous amount of electricity and water and soap, and that cutting down on the number of loads of laundry would be more eco-friendly than my insisting on a new towel each day. But am I a heartless cynic for doubting that a collective environmental anxiety has seized the hotel industry?
Here is an alternative explanation: All that water, soap, and electricity costs a lot of money and eats into the hotel’s profits. A little card on the counter telling customers that they won’t get new towels because the hotel doesn’t want to pay for laundry wouldn’t go over very well. But by couching it as a green campaign, the hotels actually get credit for providing less service to their customers, while pocketing the difference.
Industry groups that advise hotels on becoming more environmentally friendly tend to stress the money they’ll save just as much as the benefits to the planet. "Why should hotels be green?" asks the Green Hotels Association’s Web site. "Haven’t you heard? Being green goes directly to your bottom line." The site explains that by getting guests to recycle towels and sheets, hotels can save 5 percent on utility bills. "Some days, housekeeping workers, who usually clean 15 rooms a day, don’t change a single bed," said one satisfied hotel owner, who estimates that "70 percent of people staying more than one night participate in the program." Another member reports that far fewer guests ask for new towels.
So let’s review: We give up a nice luxury to save the hotel money; the hotel congratulates itself on being green for peer pressuring us into giving up the luxury under the excuse of environmental consciousness; the hotel keeps the money. Nice work.
After all, even if profit is the motive, the net result is a reduction in the hotel’s "carbon footprint". But here’s what gets me: the hotels I stayed in this summer didn’t seem all that interested in being green when it came to other things. The lobby of the big resort was air conditioned to meat locker temperatures. All day long, that frosty air rushed out the vast double doors, which were left open in the July heat. The resort also had a fleet of big, gas guzzling(耗油)vans idling at the curb to transport guests around the grounds.
Hotels are not the only offenders in this kind of green fakery. Some companies have embraced conservation for real. They build headquarters with solar panels and rainwater collection systems; they think of the environmental impact of every aspect of their businesses and actually change the way they do things to reduce waste. But this is labor intensive, often expensive, and takes commitment. Faced with that, many corporations take a different approach: They don’t do much of anything to change the way they do business, but make a big show of their contribution to Mother Earth.
It’s usually easy to spot these companies: They make their customers do the work, and then take the credit. In the name of saving the planet, my cable TV operator keeps asking for permission to stop sending paper statements in the mail each month. Instead, I’m supposed to check my statement online. The real reason, of course, is that doing so would save them paper, printing and postage. This is a perfectly reasonable reason for them to want me to switch. But when they pretend that it’s all about the environment, it just makes me hate my cable company even more than I already do.
Sometimes a good ad campaign does a better job of enhancing a company’s green reputation than going through the expense and difficulty of adopting actual environmentally sound practices. Billboards in Washington appeal to me to join the cause. "I will unplug stuff more," reads one. Another says, "I will at least consider buying a hybrid(合成物)." These ads are the work of Chevron, the giant oil company, whose "Will You Join Us?" ads try to convince people that saving the planet is at the top of their list. You might think that if Chevron was really worried about problems like global warming, they would spend some of those dollars lobbying Congress to adopt stricter gas mileage(英里数)requirements for automobiles. They do not do this. Instead, I’m apparently supposed to praise them as environmental heroes because they tell me to unplug my toaster and think about getting a Toyota Prius.
Yet ad campaigns like these work. Chevron lands at No. 371 out of 500 companies on Newsweek’s green rankings. But it claims the No. 62 spot when it comes to green reputation thanks in part to those pretty, polished ads. Green marketing has also helped Wal-Mart appear kinder and gentler in recent years. To be fair, the retailing giant has done more than redesign its logo. The company, which ranks 59th on Newsweek’s list, has embraced a series of in-house green initiatives and is demanding its suppliers do the same. The result: Wal-Mart scores first place in our reputation survey.
Given the power of positive marketing, it’s easy to see why those little towel cards are so popular-enough so that there are now a lot of companies that market them to hotels, along with all manner of products intended to make customers feel good about themselves while helping the hotels feel good about their bank balances. I suppose it is time that I step up and do my part. On behalf of the planet I will dutifully sleep on day-old sheets. But please, for the love of all that is good and right, keep the towels coming.
In order to appear kinder and gentler, in recent years, Wal-Mark has adopted the strategy of______
选项
答案
green marketing
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/iJ07777K
0
大学英语四级
相关试题推荐
A、Shedoesn’thavetimetomove.B、Shewouldhavedifficultyfindinganotherapartment.C、She’spaidherrentforthesummerin
I’veworkedinthefactoriessurroundingmyhometowneverysummersinceIgraduatedfromhighschool,butmakingthetransition
I’veworkedinthefactoriessurroundingmyhometowneverysummersinceIgraduatedfromhighschool,butmakingthetransition
A、Theyhaddifferentbusinessstrategies.B、Customersoftenmistookonefortheother.C、Conflictsbetweenthemcouldnotbepro
Americanstodayhavedifferenteatinghabitsthantheyhadinthepast.Thereisawide【B1】______offoodavailable.Theyhavea
Americanstodayhavedifferenteatinghabitsthantheyhadinthepast.Thereisawide【B1】______offoodavailable.Theyhavea
Americanstodayhavedifferenteatinghabitsthantheyhadinthepast.Thereisawide【B1】______offoodavailable.Theyhavea
随机试题
发热,午后热甚,身热不扬,属于()(2006年第19题)
患者热病后突然出现肢体软弱无力,皮肤干燥,心烦口渴,咳呛少痰,咽干不利,小便黄少,大便干燥,舌质红,苔黄,脉细数。其证候是
在烟花爆竹厂的设计过程中,危险性建筑物、场所与周围建筑物之间应保持一定的安全距离,该距离是分别按建筑物的危险等级和计算药量计算后取其最大值。下列对安全距离的要求中,正确的有()。
基岩裸露巷道掘进采用光面爆破时,其周边眼的眼痕率不应()。
注册税务师的服务范围包括以下()方面。
企业采用宽松的信用标准,虽然会增加应收账款的管理成本,但能扩大商品销售额,从而给企业带来更多的收益。()
一个好的测量工具必须稳定可靠,即多次测量结果要保持一致。这一指标指的是()。
李某8岁的儿子小勇平时非常调皮,经常用石头砸坏别人的东西,攀摘花草树木等。一日,当小勇在家门口玩耍时,遇见刘某用三轮车拉着镜子。邻居王某见状说:“你敢不敢把那个镜子砸碎,敢的话就算你厉害。”小勇听完当即就拿起石头砸过去,结果致使价值600多元的镜子被砸碎。
(1)在考生文件夹下建立项目“xm”。(2)在项目“xm”中建立数据库“DB1”。(3)把考生文件夹中自由表“目录”和“商品”添加到“DB1数据库中。(4)为目录表建立主索引,索引名和索引表达式为“目录编码”;为商品表建立普通索引,索引名
A、Moreandmorepeoplearesufferingfromheartdisease.B、Moreandmoredoctorsarefocusingtoomuchondietandexercise.C、P
最新回复
(
0
)