The terms “eco-friendly” and “green” get thrown around a lot these days, but as green building standards are being established more and more mainstream hotels can credibly say they’re going green.

Starwood hotels have now launched a new chain of extended stay hotels called Element.

This chain has one hotel open in Lexington; Massachusetts outside of Boston and 19 more are expected to open by the end of this year.

These hotels will include wind-powered electricity, recycled carpets and don’t use any plastic utensils or paper cups.

In Las Vegas one of the last places you would expect to find a green hotel there’s the Palazzo resort and hotel.

It’s known as the world’s largest LEED-certified building.

In Greensboro, North Carolina the Proximity hotel really stands out.

It’s the first hotel in the country to reach the highest level of LEED certification–platinum.

It’s not always easy to tell if the hotel is claiming to be green or is actually putting it into practice, but with new standards being put into place you can now ask and get some honest answers.

Get more ideas for accommodations in our Hotels section.

Learn more about Great Green Hotels in North America here.

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