greening your lodging - waste management

Money Saving Tips - Waste Management
Reprinted with permission from www.GreenLodgingNews.com

• Install hand dryers in public restrooms to minimize paper consumption.
  
  
• Leave your grass clippings on the lawn.
  
  
• Encourage guests to take used soap bars home. Tons of used soap bars are discarded by hotels around the world every day.
  
  
• Allow the toilet roll to be completely used prior to replacing it. Or, use half-used rolls in staff toilets. Purchase toilet paper rolls that are “coreless.”
  
  
• Use dispensers for amenities instead of single-use disposable bottles.
  
  
• Eliminate plastic or paper wrapping on drinking glasses in guestrooms.
  
  
• Use worn towels and linens as cleaning rags.
  
  
• Buy recycled paper goods with a high percentage of post-consumer content for use in guestrooms, kitchen, housekeeping and other areas of the hotel. If possible, purchase goods that are easily biodegradable.
  
  
• Implement a recycling program for cans, bottles, cooking oil, phone books, plastic containers, computers, printer/toner cartridges, cardboard, newspaper, plastic and other items. Place recycling containers throughout the hotel, including the guestrooms. Purchase computers from companies such as Dell that take computers back for recycling.
  
  
• Compost food scraps and coffee grounds. Start a worm farm to consume the waste.
  
  
• Educate staff and reward them for recycling accomplishments. Educate guests as well.
  
  
• In the office, use both sides of paper when making copies. • Make discarded paper into message pads.
  
  
• Install washable furnace and air-conditioner filters.
  
  
• Encourage your suppliers to use less waste. Buy only from those that do so.
  
  
• Donate used items such as sheets and furniture to the local community. Also donate leftover food to charities.
  
  
• Refinish furniture.
  
  
• Provide meeting attendees with a place to drop off their name badges after an event. Reuse the badge holders.
  
  
• Provide water at meetings to guests in pitchers, not plastic bottles.
  
  
• Monitor waste volume each month to track progress.
  
  
• Reuse robes as cleaning towels.
  
  
• Encourage vendors to offer products with minimal packaging.
  
  
• Purchase food in bulk to reduce packaging waste.
  
  
• Assign one person to call the trash collector for special pickups.
  
  
• Monitor trash in dumpsters to make sure recyclables are not being sent to the landfill.
  
  
• Clearly label recycling containers so that it is understood what can or cannot be placed in them.
  
  
• Share newspaper and magazine subscriptions among several people. Purchase newspapers based on occupancy. Provide newspapers on request only.
  
  
• Reuse dry cleaning hangers.
  
  
• Purchase condiments in bulk.
  
  
• Use cloth napkins, placement and tablecloths.
  
  
• Avoid the use of Styrofoam or paper cups. Use ceramic mugs instead.
  
  
• Use reusable plates, glasses and tableware in the restaurant and the employee cafeteria.
  
  
• Laminate restaurant menus so that they will last longer.
  
  
• Use reusable containers for storing food instead of plastic wrap.
  
  
• Use reusable coasters instead of napkins in the restaurant and bar.
  
  
• If individual amenities are used, be sure the plastic is recycled.
  
  
• Use rechargeable batteries instead of disposable batteries where possible.
  
  
• Ask customers if they want a straw, instead of automatically giving them one.
  
  
• Offer infrequently used guestroom amenities such as sewing kits by request only.
  
  
• Eliminate fried foods where possible to minimize the amount of grease that needs to be sent to a landfill. What grease your food and beverage operation does produce can be converted to biodiesel fuel.
  
  
• Crush cans and bottles.
  
  
• Properly dispose of fluorescents. They contain a small amount of mercury. Several companies offer safe return container programs.
  
  
• Purchase carpet that is recyclable and floor coverings that have been made from recycled materials.
  
  
• Recycle hangers by returning them to the dry cleaner.
  
  
• When possible, reuse material from demolished buildings in new construction--bricks and mortar, for example, can be recycled.
  
  
• Use reusable LED candles to reduce candle waste.
  
  
• When possible, reuse material from demolished buildings in new construction--bricks and mortar, for example, can be recycled.
  
  
• Compact the trash that you send to a recycler or landfill.
  
  
• Use kitchen disposers to reduce food waste volume.
  
  
• Participate in the EPA's WasteWise program.
  

Reprinted with permission from www.GreenLodgingNews.com.