As people become more environmentally conscious, they want the businesses they frequent to share their values. There are many ways for hotels and bed and breakfasts to go green and reduce their costs. Here are six ways in which hotels can reduce their impact on the environment.
Switch to Efficient Lighting
By switching to efficient lighting, a hotel can reduce its impact on the environment and lower its energy bills. If your hotel is still using overhead fluorescent lights or incandescent bulbs, not only is it a waste of energy, but the heat produced can trigger the HVAC system to switch on as well. Switching to a combination of compact fluorescent and LED lighting will provide the light needed by the hotel, but it will also save your business a significant amount of money.
Change to Efficient Appliances
As appliances need to be replaced, switch to more efficient models to help reduce your hotel’s carbon footprint. Switching to energy-efficient equipment like refrigerators, freezers, and HVAC systems can greatly reduce energy usage and save the hotel hundreds of pounds. In addition, programming the thermostats for each season can help reduce energy usage as well.
Encourage Recycling
Hotels produce a lot of waste, which can be reduced by having each department recycle reusable items like plastic, metals and other recyclables. The restaurant can reduce food waste by composting it and creating fertiliser for the hotel’s gardens and flowerbeds. They can also reduce waste by recycling cans and plastic containers instead of putting them in the rubbish bin.
Reduce Water Usage
The best way to reduce the amount of water the hotel uses is to hire a linen service to supply towels, napkins, tablecloths and bedding. Many linen services have gone green by using more environmentally friendly detergents, reducing the temperature for their hot water, and using processes to prolong the life of the linens they supply. Using a linen service can ensure that your hotel is running in an environmentally friendly way.
Encourage Guest Participation
Post a friendly reminder in all the rooms to remind guests to turn out the lights when leave, and give them the choice of reusing bed linens and towels instead of having them changed during their stay. Many guests like the option of not having their rooms cleaned daily as it allows for more privacy. They will often gladly participate in these energy-saving measures if they are aware of them.
Make Awareness a Priority
Make sure all of the hotel’s employees as well as guests are aware of the new green policies. Encourage employees to turn off lights and turn down the AC when they leave an otherwise unoccupied room. Have someone on the kitchen staff make sure exhaust fans and all other equipment is turned off each evening, save those that need to run, like the refrigerators and freezers.
Implementing green policies for the departments in your hotel will impress environmentally-conscious guests, and it will help reduce your company’s bottom line by reducing energy and water usage and supply costs as well.
