Hotel discounter offers 'green' hotel search

In September, rental car giant Hertz

announced

plans for a fleet of 35,000 fuel-efficient cars. Now, travelers interested in reducing their own impact on the environment have a quick option for finding an earth-friendly hotel, too.

Hotel discounter Quickbook.com this month added a

Green Hotels ShortCut

to its search capabilities, allowing users to search only for hotels that adhere to environmentally friendly practices. It's not a comprehensive search, because Quickbook only covers about 1,200 "upscale and boutique" properties in North America—but it's a start.

Here's hoping that some of the other online agencies—I'm looking at you, Orbitz, Expedia, and Travelocity—will catch on as well.