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Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.

He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.

In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.

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Did you notice that the hotels demanding their guests to reuse the towels for the sake of the environment became more frequent in the recent years? Nowadays it's considered "cool" to be environment friendly in every aspect of your business. So don't be surprised, such hotels will become more and more frequent event in the coming years. Why such push for saving the Mother Nature? In Canada some people know the answer. It's not only cool for the business to put the label "eco" on its door. It's also profitable to do so. Not just because you will get more guests, which of course is very important too.

Three years ago the Hotel Association of Canada launched a new program (Green Leaf) designed to push up the environment standards of the tourist industry in the country. A special rating system from 1 to 5 recognizes hotels, motels and resorts that are committed to improve both their environmental and financial performances. If you are working in the tourist industry in Canada, what exactly means to you to receive 1 to 5 "green leafs" under this program?

"1 Green Leaf" means that your hotel (motel, resort, etc.) has initiated measures in such areas as energy use, water conservation and waste reduction. "2 Green Leafs" are given for achieving real results in reducing environmental impacts of the business activity. "3 Green Leafs" go for those who show excellent progress in all sectors of environment protection. "4 Green Leafs" deserve only those who have shown national leadership and the highest award - "5 Green Leafs" goes to those who have demonstrated world leadership in environment performances and who permanently push up the standards showing the way for the whole industry to follow.

So far in Canada there are only 2 hotels (out of 170 participating in the program) that have attained the highest level of recognition - the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise and the Aurum Lodge, both in the province of Alberta. To become members, the participating in the program hotels have to pay a fee - up to 2 percent per room night depending on the hotel size.

The Hotel Association of Canada is pleased to see that the program is taking off. The reason why previous programs of such kind didn't succeed was obvious. Instead of putting the emphasis on the financial benefits of the participation for the hotels, in the past the organizers centered their rhetoric on purely ecological matters. "Be good with the nature because this is good!" That was the previous slogan. Nobody is against the nature, at least in theory but who in the name of the ecology will move against own business interests?

Now the motto of present program is quite different. For the businesses there isn't dilemma between the environment and the profits. "Be good with the nature and your profits will jump!" Who will refuse to pay attention to such call?

For most hotels and motels participating in the program the first thing to do is changing the old and uneconomical light bulbs. Changing any lamp that burns 24/7 for new and economical bulb means starting to cash profits within months, not to mention that the new bulbs are far more durable that the old models. One of the Canadian hotel-chains participating in the program has reported a drop in energy consumption of 7 percent between 1999 and 2002 just because of changing light bulbs.

In the coming months and years it's expected that more and more hotels in Canada would enter the program as the government agencies and some companies decide to make reservations only in eco-hotels. So don't be surprised if the next time you stay in the hotel you see more ads on how to protect the environment than on how to get to the second floor.

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See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Canada.