HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

Hospitality Industry

Hospitality Industry

Hospitality

The hospitality industry encompasses hotels, restaurants, bars, clubs, casinos, and spas. A typical green issue in this area is the use of water. Hotels use an average of about 150 gallons of fresh water per occupied room per day; some use much more. Even apart from intentional usage, small amounts of waste from dripping faucets or inefficient toilets add up considerably when multiplied by the numerous bathrooms in the hotel. In an effort to conserve water, some hotels provide financial incentives for employees to help, and a water-reduction goal, which encourages the cleaning staff to reduce the amount of water, they use when cleaning. Bathroom fixtures can be replaced to reduce inefficiency caused by leaky plumbing, and to update them to current usage standards. Older toilets used at least three gallons per flush, whereas contemporary toilets use about half of that. Washing machines can be programmed to use shorter rinse and prewash cycles, and water flow controls can be installed on shower heads (though low-water pressure in the shower is a common area of guest complaint).

Since 1996, the 12,000-member American Hotel & Motel Association's Good Earth keeping program has encouraged hotels to conserve water by limiting the laundering of towels and linens. Hotels participating in the program leave cards in the rooms that guests can use to indicate that they would be happy with housekeeping straightening the room and making the bed, but not replacing the towels and sheets. A similar program conducted through the Holiday Inn chain had expanded to 500 participating members, from the 82 who had joined, when it was launched in 1995.

Throughout the hospitality industry, urinals in men's restrooms can be replaced with waterless urinal systems, which come in various designs. Most use a trap insert using a layer of lighter-than-water sealant liquid that floats to the top of the collected urine. Converting a single urinal from the conventional style to a waterless design saves as many as 50,000 gallons of water a year. The grounds of a hotel or restaurant can be a considerable source of water use because of the irrigation needs of the greenery. Efficient irrigation systems can be installed, using timers, and wasting water can be avoided by hosing down the sidewalks and driveways. Mulch around shrubbery and other plants reduces evaporation and discourages weed growth. Furthermore, the landscaped area can be redesigned entirely with water efficiency in mind. In Las Vegas, the dry, desert climate required the MGM Grand Hotel to use thousands of gallons of water every day to keep its lawns green until management redesigned the landscaping with plants appropriate to the region.

A number of the items used in hotels can be made with recycled or green materials. Many green hotels use recycled paper tissues and provide in-room recycling receptacles. While providing cleaning staff with environmentally safe cleaning products, using organic cotton for their linens (the pesticides used in the production of conventional cotton are a significant environmental hazard), and installing clean air-filtration systems that ...