Waste Reduction Tips for Hotels and Motels

Waste Reduction Tips for Hotels and Motels

by David Brights

Waste Reduction Plan

* Have a common goal: to reduce the amount and toxicity of products. * Appoint a waste reduction coordinator. * Form a committee of employees, representing each operational area. * Perform waste evaluations and examine purchasing and disposal costs. * Establish a budget for supplies, educational and promotional materials and project labor.

Laundry and Housekeeping

* Return laundered clothes to guests in reusable garment bags or baskets. * Offer plastic wrap for dry cleaned clothing only upon request. * Eliminate cardboard backing for laundered shirts. * Dye stained towels a darker color for reuse at the pool or beach, or use as cleaning rags. * Extend the life of draperies by rotating and changing their exposure to the sun. * Install mixing stations to reduce chemical spillage. Educate staff how to mix liquid concentrates to ensure safety and save money. * Use refillable pump spray bottles instead of aerosol cans. * Clean and reuse dust-mop heads. * Use reusable vacuum cleaner bags.

Guest Rooms

* Offer rarely used items such as shower caps, sewing kits and the daily newspaper on request. * Give guests the option to reuse linen and towels. * Post educational fact cards by the American Hotel and Motel Association in each guest room to inform guests of the environmental benefits of reusing towels and linen. * Install refillable shampoo and soap dispensers in the bathrooms. * Replace disposables, such as complimentary cups, with reusables. * Wait to replace half-used toilet paper roll and tissue boxes until they are almost completely used. Leave new rolls and tissue boxes for guests to replace if needed. * Instruct housekeeping to leave half-used items for the duration of the guests stay. * If half-used items must be removed, place them in employee rest rooms or donate them to charity. * Do not remove "gift" amenities from the room after a guest departs unless the seal on the package is broken. Leave them for the next guest. * Eliminate the use of plastic liners in ice buckets. * Eliminate the use of paper doilies and paper tray covers.

Food Service

* Plan menus so that fresh ingredients are interchangeable among recipes. This way, produce and other perishable foods can be used up in different recipes and are not wasted if guests order less of a particular dish. * Reassess portion sizes. Customizing portion sizes may require buying uncut foods (including meat, produce and other products) rather than buying foods that are already cut-to-size and ready-to-use. * Offer guests the option to order half-portions. * Use scraps left over from food preparation to make soups and stocks for donation. * If possible, collect unusable food scraps and arrange to have them picked up by local pig farmers for use as animal feed. Check with the local health department or cooperative extension office first. * Arrange for a renderer to collect and recycle cooking fat, grease, and bones * Install filters to prevent food particle contamination to extend the life of deep frying cooking oil. * Donate edible, unused food to local charities. More than 100 programs throughout the United States accept prepared food-packaged, prepared, fresh, frozen, or baked. * Use reusable plastic lids or aluminum foil to cover food in coolers and steam tables. Clean aluminum foil is usually recyclable, check with your local community government. * Replace individual condiment packages with bulk dispensers in restaurants and employee cafeterias. Review health regulations first. * For take-out orders, offer condiments, napkins and straws upon request instead of allowing customers to help themselves. * For employee cafeterias and room service delivery, replace disposable items with washable, reusable plates, trays and utensils. * Use washable hats and aprons for kitchen staff instead of disposable paper ones. * Use spun glass pads for scrubbing pots and pans instead of steel wool scouring pads. They last longer and do not rust. * Avoid using cellophane wrap for fruit baskets and gifts delivered to guest rooms. * Install a magnet on food waste containers to recover flatware accidentally thrown away with food waste.

Beverage Service

* Use fountains to dispense soda. * Offer draft beer. * Purchase milk in large (five gallon) plastic dispenser bags, rather than buying milk by the gallon or in difficult-to-recycle coated cardboard cartons. * Serve milk from steel dispensers. * Use refillable beverage containers, especially for room service and in restaurants and bars, where collection of empty bottles is easily controlled. * Replace cocktail napkins with permanent coasters at dining room tables and bars. * Use reusable metal or nylon coffee filters.

Purchasing

* Request that vendors minimize packaging-Chicken, fish and vegetables are often packaged in waxed cardboard, ask your vendor to pack in a reusable or recyclable container. * Work with vendors to substitute toxic cleaners with non-toxic alternatives, buy a more concentrated product and have the product refilled at the factory. * Look for a local supplier, simplicity, energy efficiency, minimal packaging. * Purchase and maintain durable supplies. * Avoid produce that is packaged and has stickers. These are wasteful and time consuming to remove.

General Tips

* Change lighting from incandescent to fluorescent. Fluorescent bulbs last much longer and will save in disposal costs and employee time. * Order only as many telephone directories as the number of rooms and phones.

David Brights writes for http://www.showcheaphotels.info/ where you can find out more about cheap hotels and other topics.