We do it for business, we do it for pleasure - when travelling, a hotel stay is usually a must. Often, we have many choices to choose from, and we make our decision based on cost and assumed quality. There is, of course, a new factor coming into the picture, and it's green-ness. Today we'll tell you how you can green your hotel stays.

As Jess Sand recently covered here on Green Options, there are ways to green your travel. When considering hotels for your next trip, you might want to jump online and visit the Green Hotels Association site to check out their list of member hotels. You might also want to swing by Environmentally Friendly Hotels, a site that rates the green-ness of a hotel based on user submitted information. (That means that some of the info might need to be verified by you before accepting it as correct.) Some states even have their own certification programs.

But let's face it - you just might not be able to stay in one of these hotels, be it for price, location, or availability. So what else can you do? Most hotels these days have implemented some sort of green policies such as not washing the towels and sheets everyday for guests staying multiple days. We recommend that you test them on whatever policies they have committed themselves to.

If the hotel tells you that if you hang up your towel to dry, they will not wash it - try it. Hang up that towel and see what happens. We've seen it work, and we've seen it fail horribly. If the hotel isn't even following the very basic water & energy saving practices that they have posted in the rooms, call them on it. Complain to the manager, write letters, make a stink. You might also want to send them some recommended guidelines on how to go green. Of course, one option would be to keep that "Privacy Please" sign on your door - maybe that would save even more energy.

Finally, don't forget to be green in your actions, as well. Make sure to shut off all of the lights and a/c (or raise the temperature, at least) when you leave the room. Keep your showers short, just as you would at home. Don't over use just because you won't get the utility bill!

Rebecca says: I stayed in a hotel this weekend and tried the ol' hang up the towels trick. It worked! I shouldn't sound so surprised, but I had a bad experience last year where my towels were washed. A month an a half after sending in my complaint I received a call from the hotel telling me that I was the first person they'd ever spoken to that was mad because my room was cleaned. They told me, however, that they would review the green policies with their cleaning staff and hope that it wouldn't happen again.