Airbnb and hotel waste are considered major contributors to landfills, with thousands of pounds of waste occurring every single day. While hotel restaurant supplies are always a necessity, there are ways for them to take small sustainable steps toward getting rid of wasteful practices and helping make the world a cleaner and more sustainable place.
Paper and Cardboard: Like many other industries, paper is used in almost every single transaction in hotels and even by Airbnb hosts. When checking out your Airbnb supply list, take into account how and where you use paper. Give your guests the option to go paperless when they check in, emailing them a receipt instead of handing them a paper one. Swap out your toilet paper with 100% recycled toilet paper. If you offer shipping supplies to your guests, try to give them the option to use recycled paper envelopes instead. Replace the “welcome” sign on your guests with either a reusable plastic sign or by sending them a welcome email when they check in to your Airbnb or hotel.
Water: Water is a necessity, but there are little steps you can take to persuade your guests from using so much water. Give them the opportunity to opt out of having their sheets and/or bath towels changed and washed every single day. Another option is to swap out older toilets with modern ones, whose high efficiency can potentially save gallons of water a day. Make sure to also keep up to date with the fixtures in your guest’s bathrooms. If you run a kitchen, you can even invest in higher-quality dishwashers that will clean your dishes without wasting as much water. Hotel waste management, especially for water, is about being observant and making sure you are giving your guests eco-friendly options while observing to see what could be updated and improved.
Food: It is estimated that more than 1/3rd of all food served in restaurants and hotels are wasted. Not only is this awful for the environment, it means you as a business owner are wasting unnecessary money. When looking over your hotel restaurant supplies, take into account what are the most popular dishes, and more importantly, what are the most unpopular. Are you letting meat and vegetables rot because no one is ordering a certain dish?
Single-Use Plastic: A major contributor to landfills, single-use plastic can contain toothbrushes, toothpaste, forks and knives, and even coffee. Many of these pieces of single-use plastic are completely unnecessary, and usually have a sustainable alternative that is a higher quality product, such as the compostable Keurig cups* from Tayst coffee. Keurig cups are a classic in the hospitality industry, they are easy to use and consistently deliver the same quality of coffee, so finding the sustainable version is a one-and-done solution to having the same product while properly managing your hotel or Airbnb’s waste.
Why Should You Buy Sustainable Airbnb and Hotel Supplies?
Saving money isn’t the only reason to find greener ways to run a hospitality business. Saving the environment helps to show your guests that you are doing your part to make the world a better and cleaner place, incentivizing your guests to continue to do business with you, and potentially recommend your hospitality business to their friends and family.