In my travels I have stayed at many hotels that use disposable tableware in their breakfast areas. I have never felt comfortable tossing bowls, cups, plates and utensils in the trash. I am sure there are those who believe it is good business to use disposables. If you use them, what is your reasoning? To save on labor? Water? Energy? I spoke with Steve Mogck, executive vice president and COO, Country Inns & Suites by Carlson, this past week about his company’s decision to replace environment-unfriendly disposables with their washable counterparts in all 500 Country Inns & Suites by Carlson properties. (See article.) Turns out it is going to be a very smart business decision.
The return on the investment in a dishwasher and washable tableware will be less than a year. “When we ran the numbers, the cumulative annual costs for non-disposables was $35,000,” Mogck says. “The cost for using disposable product was $76,000.” It is an obvious “no brainer” for Country Inns & Suites by Carlson to eliminate disposables.
The transition to non-disposables will take some time. All Country Inns & Suites hotels will make the change by October 31 of this year. Mogck said properties in Canada had already made the change a decade ago. Outside of North America, using disposables is not even a consideration. Here in the United States? Well, throwing things away is so commonplace that going back to how things were once done seems like genius.
Tremendous Reduction in Waste
The amount of waste not going to the landfill because of the move away from disposables will be huge. In a typical day at a Country Inns & Suites property, about 256 pounds of trash per property is thrown away from the breakfast area. While some food and napkin paper waste will still be produced after October 31, most of the waste will be eliminated. This means a huge dent will be made in the 121,000 pounds of trash produced system-wide each day and 44 million pounds of trash generated system-wide each year. Good for business. Good for the planet.
Country Inns & Suites by Carlson did not make the decision based on speculation; it first tested its new program in company-owned and -managed hotels, as well as franchised properties. “We did very detailed testing,” Mogck says. “We wanted to make sure it would work in a practical way. We are trying to come up with initiatives that are the right thing to do environmentally for the hotels and environmentally for the world and try to make sure that we balance those aspects.”
In my recent visit to the first-ever Home2 Suites by Hilton property, in Fayetteville, N.C., I learned that disposables are also not used in the breakfast area. No Styrofoam, plastic utensils, paper plates, bowls, cups or dishes are used. It is nice to see that Hilton found the right solution right off the bat for its Home2 Suites by Hilton properties.
What is stopping you from eliminating disposables? I would love to know. Write to editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
See You at HD Expo & Green Day?
I will be attending HD Expo and its opening Green Day from May 17 to May 20. The events will be held at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas. Click here for details on the events.
Green Lodging News Adds LATHER as Directory Partner
Green Lodging News welcomes LATHER as a Green Product & Service Directory partner. Since 1999, LATHER has offered spa-quality skin care products made from natural ingredients. Extracts, antioxidants, and rare fruits and herbs have been cherry-picked for their unique benefits. In addition to free standing retail locations, LATHER supplies in-room, retail and spa products to distinguished locations around the globe. LATHER is the first luxury brand to feature EcoPure, an organic compound rendering plastic packaging biodegradable. All LATHER products are certified by Sustainable Travel International. For more information, e-mail Derek@lather.com, call (626) 397-9050, or go to www.latherhotel.com.
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