Cultural Difference - Conservation

In the United States I think we have this obsession with more. A prime example of this is obviously our restaurants. We give portions that could feed a small country, which of course leads to our country’s incredible obesity rate. Being abroad helped me realize another area that we focus on more – hotel pillows. For the last couple nights in Singapore we moved to the Swissotel, which is a five star hotel. After sleeping on a bed that felt like a board with a brick pillow, I was stoked to get five star water pressure and five star bedding. I walk into the room and was actually surprised when our beds had only two pillows. Only two? The bed seemed so empty with the open space. Where were my extra three pillows that usually accompany the others?


The best thing about this is that when I sleep I only use one pillow – sometimes none. Who really needs 5 pillows when they sleep? I would put money on the fact that 99% of the people that spend the night in a hotel throw at least three of the five pillows on the floor, and yet I still expect there to be at least five pillows available. The Singaporeans are definitely on to something – a little thing called conservation. They do this in many areas of life including electricity. In hotels and some other rooms that have key card access, the key card is used to authorize electrical use. When you leave the room you have to take the card with you in order to re-enter – BRILLIANT! I think we can definitely learn a thing or two from these Singaporeans.