Sustainable Hotel Methods

In the news, when networking and traveling to conferences and trade shows, we see and discuss the signs of substantial environmental harm. Especially over the last couple of decades, and we all witness and feel the ramifications.

Increasing Spring and Summer temperatures, evaporating glaciers, abnormal rainfalls, dried-out bodies of water, reduction in the ozone layer, and on and on. Action is needed before we face a catastrophic situation. Across all industries, sustainable practices are being adopted to reverse course and help save the ecosystem.

The overall hospitality industry is working to help drive this eco-friendly endeavor. The popularity of becoming a hotel with sustainable practices is on the rise. Eco-friendly hotels have implemented sustainable products and systems to protect the environment better. Eco-friendly properties perform green living using clean energy and organic products, thus offering a non-toxic environment. While sustainable hotel systems are environmentally safe, they come with baggage and, in some cases, can be problematic. Here’s a quick list of eco-friendly pros and cons:

To claim an eco-friendly lodging establishment, practices and methods must be implemented. Here are seven examples of how these hoteliers are doing just that:

The creation of sustainable hotel practices requires fundamental proficiency. The composition of a green team should include expert and interested, committed leaders, from each department. Following formal training, each committee member can be deployed to help guide others and ensure green practices are followed properly. Typically, each green team member is excited about the initial idea. Though, it is common for motivation to fall off after some time goes by. So, be sure to select highly motivated team members.

Begin by deciding the specific products and methods you will implement on-site at a property. This exercise will depend on many factors… budget, ease of use, location, availability and shipping of products, and more. For example, organic products such as natural room cleaners and bamboo bed sheets are expensive and often have availability challenges to overcome. Even the use of wind and solar energy requires large open spaces, height requirements, and even access to fields and farmland. Hotels will be spinning their wheels if there is a shortage of these elements. Using organic products is an excellent idea for hotels to reduce harmful chemicals, but be aware of greenwashing. Greenwashing is defined as products, or even organizations, promoting and promising to be eco-friendly but not practicing sustainable methods.

While very challenging, work to eliminate the use of plastic. Campaigns to do so have been around for years. Yet only a tiny percentage of destinations have achieved a plastic-free environment.

Plastic, of course, is a non-degradable raw material, making it difficult to decompose. Plastic substances can be reduced, reused, recycled, or escape using it completely. Cotton or jute bags are preferable to plastic. Or other alternatives to plastics include clay containers instead of plastic boxes or bins. We are moving at a turtle’s pace, but we must speed up a ban on plastic use, as it is a curse to all living creatures and the environment.

Recent research shows that roughly 80,000 to 100,000 trees are cut down daily to make Paper. Deforestation has a severe impact on our environment. In our digital world, data, receipts, and piles of Paper can all be uploaded to cloud servers and accessed with a few clicks of a mouse. Going digital is and will continue to be a significant hospitality industry focus.

We have all seen and used automatic faucets in hotels, office buildings, convention centers, and restaurants in public restrooms. Faucets include sensors that dispense water only when activated. This is just one suitable water-saving method, especially at high-traffic establishments. It is estimated that automatic faucets save between 50-60% of water compared to a regular tap.

Additionally, hotels are moving to magnetic keycard technology within their facilities. The keycard connection completes a circuit to allow for the flow of electricity. Once removed from a position, the circuit is broken, thus power shuts down. This is a popular eco-friendly amenity used by hotels to save electricity.

Many areas combat the effects of drought, especially during the summer months, due to a lack of rainfall. To overcome the situation, rainwater gathering is a proven simple and effective method to store water for usage. Hotels begin by constructing an underground compartment to steer rainwater into a tank. The water is then filtered and used for non-drinking purposes like laundry, cleaning equipment, bathrooms, floors, and other activities.

Reduce: The label says it all. Work to reduce the amount of waste created at a hotel. Using materials that are friendly to the environment will help reduce quantities. Hotels that work to determine the “sweet spot” on catering quantities are succeeding at reducing waste.

Reuse: Maybe the easiest of all three, reuse is hopefully a common practice. At any time we can reuse a container, reuse the back side of a sheet of Paper, toner cartridges, or request to keep the same set of sheets if staying for a few days.

Recycle: Building a recycling program can go far beyond the limited use of glass or plastic. Many items such as light bulbs, ink cartridges, cartons, and cans can be recycled.