practice aggressive conservation management. The low cost of water in Texas is largely attributable to governmental subsidies that shield both consumers and industrial users from the full costs associated with the development and maintenance of water supplies, as well as the full costs of the delivery of water to users.
Hotel operators are among those businesses being required to confront water and energy conservation issues in the mid-1990s. Energy expenditures account for between two- and six-percent of operating costs in the hotel industry (Dale, 1992, pp. 30-35). The price of energy continues to rise, raising the potential for an increase in the proportion of operating costs accounted for by energy use. Energy conservation, thus, is fast becoming one of the principal operating objectives of hotel managements.
Adding to the pressures on hotel managements is the public outcry against water and energy waste (Rowe, 1992, pp. 36-38). Several options for pursuing energy and water conservation objectives are available to hotel managements. These options range from technological innovations to operational changes. In view of the public outcry against water and energy waste, a valid question involves the extent to which hotel guests may be enlisted in water and energy conservation efforts by hotel organizations. It is this question that provided the investigative focus of this research study.
At the touch of a tap, a person located in El Paso, Texas has sufficient water for drinking, cooking, bathing, lawn watering, car washing, filling a swimming pool, and sundry other uses (Postel, 1994, p. 17). Meanwhile, in Lodwar, Kenya, a person must spend hours traveling to a well or a spring in hopes of obtaining a minimal amount of water for drinking and cooking (Postel, 1994, p. 17). The average family in El Paso uses approximately 3,000 liters of water on a typical day, while the average family in Lodwar is lucky if two liters ...