Three ways to boost the eco credentials of your hotel

Jan 23

Running a hotel naturally takes a vast amount of energy and water, and produces a lot of waste. With many consumers looking to reduce their carbon footprints, boosting the eco credentials of your hotel can go a long way to promoting yourself as a sustainable venue and making your business attractive to a wider range of travellers.

Let’s explore three easy ways to make your business greener.

Check your waste management

A study by The City of New York found that a hotel can generate as much as three tons of waste per day, and depending on its operations and facilities, 50%-80% of that waste can be recycled. Surprisingly, many hotels don’t have robust waste management systems in place. To begin your journey as a sustainable accommodation, start by implementing food waste management measures and recycling plastics and glass, to reduce the amount that ends up in landfill.

Not only does this boost your eco credentials, but it can also save you money and resources in the long run. As businesses are increasingly pressured to comply with ESG compliance standards, taking these steps ahead of time will put you in a key position to help raise the bar for the entire hospitality and tourism industry.

Use green energy

As a 24/7 establishment, it’s more difficult to have periods of ‘downtime’ in which energy is not being consumed by your hotel. Instead, switch to an energy provider that prioritizes green energy usage, and relies less on fossil fuels. This puts more green energy units back into the grid, and supports global initiatives to lower the use of unsustainable energy sources.

You can also be smarter with your energy usage by looking for ways to minimize your lighting and heating usage. Switching to LED sensor lights in hallways and areas less frequented overnight can result in energy savings of 85% or more, alongside maintenance savings of up to 100%.

A sustainable heating system, such as solar panels or a heat pump, can offer you huge savings on your energy bills and significantly position you in the market as a sustainable hotel.

Conserve water

Research shows that hotels use around 1,500 litres of water every day, but by implementing greener practices throughout your business, you can cut this by as much as 50%. Rather than automatically changing and washing all bedsheets and towels daily, consider offering your guests optional housekeeping services. Most people don’t need their bedding or towels changed daily, so this massively reduces the amount of water used in this area.

To further conserve water, invest in installing aerators onto all taps – these reduce the amount of water flowing without losing any pressure. You could also look into ways you could reuse gray water throughout your hotel to recycle it and boost your eco credentials even further.

Be creative

These are just a few of the ways you can make your hotel a greener business, building your reputation as a trustworthy and considerate accommodation while helping to protect our planet. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box and get creative coming up with your own ideas, too. From upcycling furniture to offering sustainable toiletries, the possibilities to shape your hotel into an eco-friendly destination are endless.

Sea Going Green is a sustainable tourism consultancy working together with hotels and accommodations to help lower their environmental footprint by assessing and strategizing reduction techniques for energy, water, waste and other impacts. By taking these steps, hotels enjoy cost savings and PR benefits, boosting their brand image, while simultaneously helping the planet.

Interested in knowing how we could work together with you? Get in touch with our experts!