How your hotel can be more eco-friendly(AND save money and attract more guests in the process)

Some ideasAll of these do one or more of these: are good for the guest's health, save money for the hotel, improve guest loyalty, or give the hotel a USP.

Action Benefit Example / More info

Stop giving bottled water to guests.

Why?Chemicals in the plastic, like BPA, are known to cause cancer. Bottled water is harmful to the environment, because of the energy used in making them and the difficulty in disposing of them. A lot of cities worldwide are banning its use.

ActionServe water in jugs in rooms, restaurants, banquets. Put a sign in rooms that explains the benefit to the environment and benefit to the guest – harmful chemicals in the plastic that leach into the water, etc. Explain that all the drinking water in the hotel comes from an RO plant, which is also where bottled water comes from.

Benefits to guest1. Does not drink water with harmful chemicals leaching into it from the plastic.2. Gets a feeling of satisfaction that he/she is being eco-friendly.

Benefits to hotel1. Reduction in cost of bottled water.2. Less waste to be disposed of3. Branding as eco-friendly hotel4. Differentiation from competitors

http://www.bizenergy.ca/blog/plastic-water-bottles-and-the-environment-how-bad-is-bad/

http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2013/01/07/us-town-concord-bans-bottled-water/

Use coloured towels, bedsheets, etc. instead of white.

Why?Residual bleach and detergent on the linen enters the body through the skin, and can be carcinogenic.

Keeping linen bright white involves a lot of damage to the environment:1. Use of far more and stronger detergents than for coloured clothes.2. Use of bleaching compounds that get into ground water and other water bodies.3. Bleach and more detergent means more water used for washing than for coloured clothes.4. White requires more intensive washing, in hotter water, resulting

Benefits to guest1. Less residual detergent and bleach in linen getting into body through skin.2. Gets a feeling of satisfaction that he/she is being eco-friendly.

Benefits to hotel1. Reduction in cost of detergent, bleach, heating power, water. If washing is outsourced, renegotiate the rates.2. Since less detergent and bleach are used, and water need not be as hot, hence lower energy cost, the life of the linen increases and it need not be replaced so often. Cost of replacement reduces.

Action Benefit Example / More info

in more energy consumption.

Action1. Switch to non-white linen (towels, bed sheets, foot towels).2. Switch to smaller and thinner towels – water consumption is reduced.3. If the laundry is outsourced, specify that they must use less detergent, and the detergent must be environment-friendly and not harmful to humans.4. Test the linen for residual chemicals periodically.

Put a sign in rooms that explains the benefit to the environment (E.g., “X tons of detergent reduced, Y tons of bleach, Z liters of water reduced, P units of power saved for heating the water” in our hotel) and benefit to the guest – residual bleach and detergent reduced by Q %.

http://www.smartklean.com/html/the_truth.html

Don't change and wash towels and bed linen every day – allow the guest to decide.

ActionKeep a basket in the toilet for towels that need to be washed, with an appropriate sign above it. If the guest puts the towel in the basket it is to be washed, else it remains on the rack.

Benefits to guestSame as in using coloured linen.

Benefits to hotelSame as in using coloured linen.

Switch to organic raw material in the restaurants.

ActionOrganically grown vegetables, pulses, rice, wheat, bread, milk, spices and meat are all available in most parts of the country. Source these instead of the regular pesticide-laden raw material.

Benefits to guestSame as in using coloured linen.

Benefits to hotelNo economic benefits. Organic raw material costs upto 25 % more than the regular.Can however help in guest loyalty. A lot of people are becoming very health conscious, switching to organic food, and would definitely prefer to stay in a hotel that uses organic raw material.

Switch to low-fat, low sugar snacks without preservatives in mini-bar

ActionSource snacks from local bakeries and snack makers, that have less processing and preservatives.

Benefits to guestHealthier snacks. A lot of people are becoming very health conscious.

Benefits to hotelNo economic benefits, sourcing is more difficult. Can however help in guest loyalty.

Action Benefit Example / More info

A lot of people are switching to healthier options in snacks instead of salt, sugar and preservatives-laden food, and would definitely prefer to stay in a hotel that has this option.

Bicycles for guests

ActionPeople who stay in you hotel probably are doing so because they have work nearby, within a couple of km. You could have 10 bicycles for the use of your guests, free of cost, so they can cycle up and down to work or to a neaby shopping or food place. In business hotels, particularly, people may stay or days or even weeks together and cycling to work would be a nice change from taking an automobile.

Offer a 5 % discount to guests who use the bicycle facility, likek the Vienna hotel in the Example/More info column. Even if a guest doesn't use the facility, he/she is going to remember the hotel for it.

Benefits to hotelNo economic benefits.Can help in guest loyalty.

http://www.hotelstadthalle.at/bicycle-hotel-vienna

http://infinitelegroom.com/2013/10/20/hotel-bicycles/

What some hotels are doing

Author of documentName : Dasarathi GVEmail : dasarathigv@gmail.com

Author of documentName : Dasarathi GVEmail : dasarathigv@gmail.com