NATIONAL REPORT—Hotel companies are extending their environmental commitment to what their employees wear and sacrificing absolutely nothing when it comes to good design and durability. Large companies such as Hilton Worldwide and Wyndham Worldwide have made commitments to eco-friendly uniforms. Other companies and individual properties are also choosing “green” when it comes to apparel. At least two companies—Cintas Corp. and Superior Uniform Group—are offering collections that include recycled polyester made from soda bottles or recycled polyester made from post-industrial textile scraps. In some cases, recycled polyester makes up 100 percent of the material used in a product; more often it accounts for a portion in combination with materials such as non-recycled polyester, wool or Lycra.
The soda bottle conversion process begins when they are processed into flakes, then filaments that are spun into yarn, and ultimately woven into very soft fabrics. There are numerous environmental advantages to purchasing uniforms that include recycled polyester. According to Cintas, which offers a number of eco collections, less energy is required in the manufacturing process (up to 33 percent less), less waste is sent to the landfill because plastic bottles are reused, and the use of toxins and chemicals in the dry cleaning process is reduced or eliminated because many of the uniforms are machine-washable. Not having to send a uniform out for cleaning can save a property up to $1,000 per employee annually.
Janice Henry, vice president of design for Superior Uniform Group, says her company first explored the use of recycled polyester four or five years ago when a retail customer asked about organic uniforms. Organic being too costly at the time, using recycled polyester became a feasible alternative. “Polyester is a fiber that keeps uniforms fresh looking,” Henry says. “Our customers love the fact that our uniforms that include recycled polyester are washable.”
Company Expands Uniform Lines
Superior Uniform Group currently has a fabric blend called Eco-Poly. It is a blend of regular polyester and recycled polyester. The company’s Signature line of fabric, also machine washable, is a blend of polyester, wool, and Lycra. While it does not include recycled polyester, it is eco-friendly because it need not be dry cleaned. Superior Uniform offers tailored apparel, housekeeping apparel, and chef apparel as part of its eco-friendly lines. “Green” uniforms are available for employees in just about every area of a hotel. Henry says the company is also offering a polo shirt made from 100 percent post-industrial polyester waste (textile scraps). “We are adding new things all of the time,” she says.
Companies such as Hilton Worldwide and InterContinental Hotels Group are currently using Superior Uniform Group’s eco-friendly lines. Earlier this year, Hilton received an award for its eco-friendly suiting, housekeeping, and maintenance garments at the National Association of Uniform Manufacturers and Distributors Image of the Year Awards ceremony in Las Vegas. The uniforms are part of Superior’s Appel & Brooks collection.
Last fall, Cintas announced the addition of its Momentum Washable Suiting Collection to its Sustainable Solutions workplace apparel line. The stretch, wrinkle-resistant fabric used in the collection is made with a 54/42/4 blend of recycled polyester, wool and Lycra. Donna Knechtel, product manager for Cintas, says the company has been offering eco-friendly uniforms for about three years.
“Cintas has a corporate sustainability initiative,” says Paula Mikulak, marketing manager for the hospitality division of Cintas. “It was a natural progression for us. At the same time, it was becoming more important for our customers. It is not a trend; it is a way of life for a lot of our customers.”
Knechtel says Cintas has seven different product categories that include recycled polyester—representing departments from bell staff to housekeeping to pool and spa areas. “For every one of our collections we are looking at changing polyester to a recycled polyester,” she says. “The response has been phenomenal so far. Customers are asking for more options.”
Knechtel explained that one single suit made with recycled polyester uses the equivalent of 25 recycled soda bottles, saves the use of 14.6 liters of crude oil, and helps reduce manufacturing-related carbon dioxide emissions by almost 50 percent.
Wyndham Makes Commitment
In September 2008, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts announced that it would begin using eco-friendly uniforms from Cintas. Select Wyndham Hotels and Resorts properties began using the uniforms that fall. All current Wyndham Hotels and Resorts properties are required to have eco-friendly uniforms in place by the end of 2011 . All new properties are required to provide the new uniforms upon opening.
Country Inns & Suites By Carlson and Park Inn hotels recently launched new hotel employee uniform programs in collaboration with Cintas. Each program is designed to reflect the respective brand’s distinctive character and style. During the 2010 implementation of the program, about 1,900 front-office staff members at Country Inns & Suites By Carlson and Park Inn hotels in the Americas will implement the eco-friendlier clothing line. It is called the Regeneration Suiting Collection.
In March 2010, Cintas announced that its eco-friendly clothing concepts were awarded Apparel magazine’s second annual Sustainability All-Star Award at the Apparel Tech Conference West in Irvine, Calif. To qualify for the award, applicants had to show a commitment to making their businesses more sustainable along with their plan for evolving that commitment.
This summer, Cintas will introduce a polo shirt made from 100 percent recycled polyester that can be returned for recycling. Cintas’ green uniform collection is just one part of its comprehensive environmental strategy. Chemicals in Cintas’ facility service solutions are Green Seal certified and distributed in chemical dispensing units that eliminate waste. In Cintas’ 2009 fiscal year, the company’s document management recycling program salvaged more than 4.36 million trees, 21.5 million gallons of oil, 769,000 cubic yards of landfill space and 1.8 billions gallons of water.
While there was a time when the cost to use recycled polyester was prohibitive, it has now become more affordable. Regarding the actual price of uniforms, Henry says product with recycled polyester can cost more than that with only non-recycled polyester but the return on investment comes quickly from not having to dry clean uniforms.
Glenn Hasek can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
