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What's Your Opinion on Starwood's Make A Green Choice Program?

Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly
Founder and “The Points Guy”
Since launching TPG in 2010, founder Brian Kelly has expanded the team to include a distinguished editorial staff and an extensive network of freelancer contacts from around the globe. Today, TPG reaches 11 million unique monthly visitors and more than 3 million followers across social media platforms and has offices in New York City, Charlotte and the U.K.
May 17, 2015
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3 min read
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What's Your Opinion on Starwood's Make A Green Choice Program?
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This past week, TPG reader Clement tweeted me to ask:

@thepointsguy– "What are your thoughts on Starwood's Make a Green Choice program, where you can earn $5 or 500 points every night you decline housekeeping? Do you do it?"

Starwood offers the Make A Green Choice Program in order to help the environment. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

Starwood offers a program called Make a Green Choice where you can earn either vouchers or Starpoints for declining housekeeping.

Details of the Program

  • To participate and be eligible for the $5 food or beverage voucher or the 500 Starpoints, hang the Make a Green Choice doorhanger on the outside of your guestroom door by 2 a.m. or let the hotel know during check-in that you're interested in opting-in to the program.
  • You are not eligible to participate in the program on the day of departure; it is only on stayover nights. The $5 F&B voucher is only valid at time of purchase and cannot be combined with other offers. Unused $5 F&B vouchers may be turned in at the front desk before check-out for 500 Starpoints each.
Participating in the program is an easy way to earn points by helping to conserve water and electricity.

I'm loyal to SPG, but I've never actually taken advantage of this program. When I stay at any hotel, I generally make a mess of my room while working and eating room-service meals, so I count on daily housekeeping to help me maintain a clean, organized environment. I do wish SPG members could earn points for not getting their sheets and towels changed or washed, but that's not how this program works: you have to forgo room cleaning entirely. So while 500 Starpoints would be a nice perk, the idea of trying to work in a messy room isn't really moving the needle for me.

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However, even though I don't personally participate in the program, I still think the promise of 500 Starpoints is a good way to inspire people who spend most of their travel time outside their room to be more eco-conscious.

Since I pay a lot for the pleasure of returning to and working in a sparkling, orderly room, not getting the cleaning service seems counter-intuitive to me. But I'm curious to know, who out there does take advantage of this program? Would you like to see other hotels offer this sort of incentive to be green?

If you have any other questions, please tweet me @thepointsguy, message me on Facebook, or send me an email at info@thepointsguy.com.
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