that the hotels want to be friendlier to the earth. Research shows that customers will pay more to stay in a greener hotel. The following is an example taken from a presentation showing the benefits to hotels if they become green: “Proven benefits of comprehensive green business actions: Enhanced loyalty and goodwill from guests and the community: People feel better about supporting companies that share their values. Improved morale and productivity of employees, who share these values: When team members are happy it’s easy making guests happy. Increased visibility as a leading company versus competition: Strengthens market differentiation and a unique selling proposition. Reduced operating costs through waste reduction and efficiency measures: Reinvesting these dollars strengthens the company and creates jobs.” The California Department of General Services “Green Lodging Program” lists the hotels that have been distinguished on their website. The hotels also promote this honor on their websites, which is additional marketing power that the hotels receive due to their effort to be green. Evaluation In the research conducted, the program has not been evaluated. This may be because the program does not have any income and has minor, if any, expenses. Currently, there are 100 hotels in northern California and 150 in southern California that are listed on the Green Lodging Program database. Out of 23,000 total hotels in California, only 250 hotels are recognized as being “green.” (CA Dept. of Finance & CA Dept. of General Services). Despite a 25 percent growth in 2019, the number of participating hotels has been declining for the past ten years, with currently half the number of hotels certified compared to 2009. The state of California has information on their website about coming up with new ideas on how to enhance the program, but no specifics. Across the nation, other states have very recently implemented green lodging programs. This will provide for California’s Green Lodging Program to be evaluated against other state programs and determine how they recognize green hotels. Other hotels have published their savings by following “green” practices. One hotel began cutting electricity usage and installed energy efficient fluorescent light bulbs since 1999 and has saved more than $585,000. The Fairmont Royal in Toronto insisted on reducing the packaging that came with the products they regularly purchase. By using a new product that was equivalent to 750 sheets of Bounce fabric softener, it saved the hotel from purchasing 23,000