Hotels contribute as going green becomes the need of the hour!

Going green to change the culture of environmental degradation practices and to achieve sustainable growth has become the need of the hour today and various hotels across the globe are taking an initiative to do their bit.

Going green does not only help the environment but also the hotel in terms of customer loyalty, awards and recognition, regulatory compliance, increased brand value, etc. Intercontinental hotel group was the first hotel chain to introduce a set of ‘green’ guidelines for hotels in 1991. IHG was also the foremost to launch the first ever green hotel in 2008. Eventually coming to India; The Orchid Hotel, Mumbai was the first Eco-tel hotel not only in India but also in Asia; utilizing a system which reduces water usage by almost 50%. Various luxury accommodations in Delhi too have initiated the go green trend and nearly 32 five star hotels in the capital have taken part in the three-year campaign to conserve water and electricity started by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) according to government reports.

Generally water consumption is very high in a hotel being used in different areas such as cold water for kitchen, laundry, drinking, circulation for air taming, hot water for guest bathrooms and flow for space heating. The campaign which started in mid-2012 resulted in savings five million liters of fresh water every day; which is sufficient for nearly 50,000 people.

Besides water the hotel sector also utilizes a big proportion of electricity as compared to other tourism sectors and it’s about time hotels everywhere started doing more than just leaving a card on the pillow indicating when the guest wants their towels and sheets changed. Though hotels claim to save a lot of water through the pillow card sheet-towel change policy, to make a bigger difference there are few other smart tactics; we have gotten acquainted with first hand in our past few travels listed below; which many hotels can easily adopt.   

Get ceramic or glass cups

Disposable cups at hotels are generally made of Styrofoam and other such materials containing toxins which may taken hundreds of years to decompose; hence not very environmentally friendly. With so many used in hotels everyday it would be much better replacing them with ceramic or glass cups; which guests can use. 

Reusable mesh filters for coffee

While we’re on the topic of cups and coffee; it would be a good idea to consider replacing disposable plastic coffee pods and bleached paper filters with reusable mesh filters and small packs of coffee in recyclable paper envelopes. This method not only reduces usage of plastic but also helps reduce waste and cuts costs.

Utilize cloth laundry bags

Going green not only helps the environment but also reduces hotel operators’ costs. It’s a great idea to replace plastic laundry bags with cloth ones, which the guest can leave in the room at the end of their stay, just like all the other linens.

Use trash sorters.

 A good way to reduce time spent by hotels staff on sorting through the trash is using wastebaskets which have been made using a simple sorting system. This way the hotel staff need not sort through recyclables; for instance each wastebasket can have two plastic bins: one for regular trash, one for paper and plastic recyclables.

Refillable pumps

Most hotels provide toiletries like shampoos, conditioners, and lotions in little plastic bottles; which most love however replacing them with refillable pumps which remain on the side of the shower are not only environment friendly but also cost effective. Hotels implementing this practice feel that this step not only reduces expense and waste but also operational costs.

Get a key card system that activates lights

A room key controlled by lights makes it impossible for a guest to be irresponsible and forget to switch off the lights as they go out. Besides the obvious of saving electricity using key cards also reduces electric bills by nearly 40% of a hotel.

Green the roof

Though this step may require a lot of planing and investment in the beginning it has a lot of benefits like :costs savings on heating and cooling bills, improved sound insulation, longer lifespan of the room, creation of a creative and recreational space, and so on. Moroever it is one of the most noticable ways to depict the hotel’s commitment to the environment.

Beyond the above tips there are many more strategies a hotel can apply to go green like gray water recycling, installing energy-efficient light bulbs with a lifespan guarantee of one year or longer and even encouraging guests to take part in environmental friendly stuff by providing bikes on rental, and so on.

Recognizing the need of the hour various hotels everywhere have started contributing in the go green initiative. The Imperial which is a luxury accommodation in Delhi; has also taken a step towards creating a more eco-friendly environment by providing natural products like herbal soaps, utilizing dimmer lights in common areas when not being used, harvesting rain water and using drip irrigation. Besides this the hotel is continuously working on going green through art competitions, undertaking cleanliness drives and hosting green luncheons.

Hotels today are becoming increasingly aware about the need to implement going green for the environment and to maintain their competitive edge; will have to continually keep on reinventing themselves to optimize the use of resources and become more Eco-friendly.