Baby steps to make our guestrooms more sustainable

One of the biggest challenges facing the hospitality industry is how to become more sustainable while taking into consideration of guest comfort, guest perception and the cost of implementation. In response, hotels around the world are turning to big and small green initiatives that can reduce their environmental carbon footprints while providing guests with a comfortable, memorable stay.

You may be wondering how you can make your own hotel more eco-friendly. With so many more pressing tasks requiring costly implementation, it may seem like an impossible mission. But with a little bit of research and cost planning, you can take cost-effective baby steps starting from your guestroom to make your hotel greener in no time!

• Install energy-efficient lighting: Switching to more efficient light bulbs, like compact fluorescent (CFL) or light-emitting diode (LED), can greatly reduce the amount of electricity used in common areas and guestrooms. Consider investing in an automated lighting system that turns lights off when a room is unoccupied or dims them throughout the day.
• Removing single use plastic bottles like miniature amenity bottles and opt for refillable wall mounted or desktop dispenser bottles. An example of such dispenser is the JVD’s Opal wall mount dispensers, available as a single, dual and triple compartment. Available here
• Purchase eco-friendly furniture and appliances. JVD’s Royce instant water dispenser boils in less than 5 seconds to give guests instant satisfaction and requires less water to clean the detachable water tank. Available here
• Choose organic and green cleaning products with little/no chemicals and biodegradable ingredients. JVD’s kettle descaling powder is 100% biodegradable and is non-toxic, using only natural critique acid for effective cleaning. Available here
• Waste reduction: Implement a recycling program and use compostable or biodegradable products, such as paper straws and bamboo utensils. Recycle bins can also be placed in every guestroom to educate guests about the hotel’s green initiatives and encourage guests to participate in it as well. Available here
• Consider using renewable energy sources such as solar panels. Though these can be costly, but should provide long term savings in electricity overtime. Other minutiae adjustments include changing your current battery operated weighing scales to batteryless digital scales like JVD’s Dyna scale. It merely requires a single step by the guest on the button to generate kinetic energy to power up for 1 minute. Zero maintenance and zero electronic waste. Available here

By providing these green products within the hotel guestroom, hotels can not only enhance its positive sustainability guest impression, but also provide true cost savings to the hotel in the long term