How To Green-ify Your Hotel
Many people worldwide are interested in living a healthier lifestyle, which isn’t just limited to diet and exercise. People are also becoming more and more concerned with the environment and are making smarter choices to help ensure its protection. Business across the board and around the globe have taken note, altering their options to clients and their practices as a business. But is there a demand for hotels that have green programs for their properties? Are there any benefits to hoteliers if they do go green?
As a hotelier, you should be pleased to know that you could actually increase your bookings by nearly 10% within a year while increasing your site visitations when over half a million people come by to check out your property by promoting green hotel. With this information in mind, it does seem as if green hotels are preferable to those that are not. Therefore, what would be the best programs for your property that would entice more guests to come for a stay?
When you reduce your laundry, you have the ability to save the hotel nearly 20% on your water and sewage bill. One of the easier ways in which to be a green hotel, and to save on water usage in the meantime, is by offering guests a linen reuse program. This can be done by simply having the guests leave a provided sign on their door stating if they would like new bedding and towels or if they would like to reuse what they have.
Of course, while there are many travelers looking to go and stay green on their vacation, there is the other side of the coin where other guests want to be pampered daily with a new set of everything from towels to linens. It can be a bit tricky for the hotelier to balance the two and go green without ignoring the other clientele. That’s why the option for guests to participate or not can be the least offensive way of taking care of everyone.
But then there are the things that won’t affect an individual guest’s stay but will improve your green reputation, including finding an alternative energy source. For instance, the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick, NJ, installed a 32,000 square foot solar array to charge its electricity. Hoteliers could also look at hydroelectricity or wind power to energize their properties.
Sure, this is a big way of showing your guests and the world that you really intend to go green and remain that way, but the changes don’t have to be so huge. You can change smaller things within your hotel, including:
- Food composting and recycling;
- Switching to CFL, QL, and LED lighting to reduce your emissions of white noise.
- Offer guests the option of replenishing toiletries every day. This will cut down on your plastic consumption, carbon footprint, and costs.
Some hotels that don’t have a huge amount of revenue to use to develop their green program and look at simple things to do to save the environment. For instance, if your property offers a breakfast to its guests you could use 100% biodegradable dinnerware and tableware, things you have to require for dining services anyway. Making a simple switch will say a lot.
Whatever choice is made by the hotelier for their hotels to go green, it will most assuredly be welcomed by nearly all who come to town for a stay. As a business owner and a hotelier, you have the opportunity to make a huge impact on the planet. Make it a good one.
