Sustainable hotels practice zero waste by minimizing their negative environmental effects, such as reducing energy, reducing water consumption, using renewable sources, recycling waste, reducing plastic usage, and sourcing locally. Hotels contribute to greenhouse gases and pollute the environment in numerous ways. Worldwide, hotels produce tons of waste each year, therefore, an effective hotel waste management plan should be compulsory. Priority should be given to the separation of all waste by using separate bins for example there should be bins for paper, plastic, glass, fabric, and organic food scraps. Much of the plastic that is used by hotels ends up in the sea.
In many countries, the construction of hotels causes the loss of many forests and their ecosystems. This also alters groundwater and landscape changes. Sometimes the locals no longer have access to what used to be a public beach, picnic and play area.
Carbon-neutral hotel initiatives
There are many green hotel certification programs and groups that hotels can choose to be a part of which guide good sustainable practices. Let’s look at a few hotel certifications.
The Green Globe Certification seeks to offer an assessment of the sustainability performance of travel and tourism businesses (including their supply chain partners). Members can view the Green Globe Standard with a complete set of criteria at https://www.greenglobe.com.
The Green Key certificate is a leading standard of excellence in the field of environmental responsibility and sustainable operation within the tourism industry. This prestigious certificate represents a commitment by businesses that their tourism establishments adhere to the strict criteria stipulated by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). A Green Key stands for an establishment’s promise to its guests that by opting to stay with such an establishment, they are helping to make a difference on an environmental and sustainability level. The high environmental standards expected of these establishments are maintained through rigorous documentation and frequent audits. Visit their website https://www.greenkey.global to learn more.
The Green Hotels Association provides a meeting place for hotels interested in being green. Green Hotels are environmentally friendly properties whose managers are eager to institute programs that save water, save energy, and reduce solid waste while saving money. Visit the website at https://greenhotels.com for information.
Sustainable accommodation
Some hotels are serious about providing eco-friendly vacations for their guest and have done so in many ways. Courtyard Lancaster celebrated the completion of a 135,200-square-foot solar installation for the hotel situated in Lancaster, and close to Downtown Lancaster and the beautiful lush Amish country. The hotel is the first Marriott-branded property in the U.S. to become 100 percent solar-powered. The hotel is fully solar-powered by the sun and does not require electricity.
Radisson Hotel Group aims to have all of its hotels certified to an eco-label within a year of their opening. An area of sustainability that Radisson focuses on is responsible sourcing hotel partners with green-minded suppliers committed to doing business in an eco-focused way. The hotel reduces, reuses, replaces, recycles, and manages food waste and eliminates the use of plastic. They reduce the use of water through technology improvements in their rooms and operations, using rainwater and gray water wherever possible. Their meetings are carbon neutral they incorporate solar and other technology instead of electricity and they are committed to being net zero by 2050. Well done Radisson Group. If you would like to support their initiatives why not book your next vacation at one of their hotels?
Recycling textile
Hundreds of textiles are disposed of each year, however, wood can help with turning some textiles such as cotton into the brand-new fabric for sewing different clothing. Many textiles are blended of several different materials so it is challenging to separate cotton from the rest. The cellulose from the cotton is blended with cellulose from wood raw material converting into sheets of pulps which contain 80 percent renewable wood and 20 percent cotton from the recycled textile.
The Marriott-owned hotel chain in an initiative to reduce the amount of textile that goes into waste each year created a project called ThreadForward whereby old or damaged hotel linens are recycled and Sleepwear is created for children’s charities. Westin Hotels & Resorts will be distributing these pajamas to children in need. Westin will put smiles on children’s faces from New York, Toronto, Mexico City and Cape Town, and inspire guests to support the initiative by purchasing a pair of pajamas on westinstore.com to benefit the program. I would like to encourage anyone who reads this article to please purchase a pajama for a needy child.
Waldorf Astoria Hotel located in Beverly Hills, CA reuses over three hundred gallons of water each year for use in its stunning landscaping. The hotel implemented a greywater system reusing highly purified water yearly for irrigation purposes. This is a very good green initiative because hotels use gallons of water throughout the year to keep the lawns green and immaculate. Plants are watered frequently to keep them alive and looking good for the guests. To be able to take beautiful photographs is part of the experience that guests look forward to doing.
Donating food waste to zoo
Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay’s (Florida) hotel kitchens worked with the Tampa Zoo and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay to donate 1,500 lbs. of food scraps that are appropriate for animals (watermelon rinds, pineapple leaves, and broccoli stems), with a target of 6,000+ lbs. in 2023. https://about.hyatt.com.
More hotels need to join this initiative and one way to do so is to separate the waste sustainably. Zoos have many different animals with different diets and so much food wasted yearly, there should be adequate to supply the zoos.
In summary, hotels greatly contribute to global warming and other environmental problems. More hotels should join the race to be carbon-neutral hotels by 2030. Several green certifications and groups are available to aid them on their journey to provide sustainable tourism accommodations. Guests can play a vital role by start booking sustainably hotels this would help the cause.
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