Luxury Hotel Brands Announce Plastic-Free Initiatives15.03.2018 Luxury Hotel Brands Announce Plastic-Free InitiativesLuxurytraveladvisors.com by Mike Hickey | In an effort to implement more environmentally friendly practices, several luxury hotel collections and properties have recently become plastic-free. Here are the latest brands to make Corinthia Palace Hotel MaltaContinuing its planet-friendly policies, Corinthia Palace Hotel in Malta is straw-free as of March 8. The hotel uses 40,000 straws each year, on average, and will now use paper straws with a wax cover as a substitute, offered on request. The move follows the planned new EU legislation being introduced before the summer to ban single-use plastics. Environmental concerns focus on the fact that plastic straws take over 200 years to break down. Already, a number of British restaurants have announced that they are phasing out straws, making them only available on request. Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle have also supported the campaign. Corinthia, the five-star luxury hotel collection, has taken other strides to be eco-friendly. Across the group, the company’s environmental sustainability is championed through its partnership with international water-aid charity, Just A Drop. Over the last three years, Corinthia has brought clean water to over 40,000 children and families across five Just A Drop projects, the most recent in Zambia and Tanzania. Akaryn Hotel GroupThe Akaryn Hotel Group announced it plans to become a single-use plastic-free hotel company by 2020. The group's newest opening, Akyra Sukhumvit Bangkok, scheduled to open in May 2018, will lead the initiative by not having any single-use plastic in its rooms or food and beverage outlets. "Our eco-friendly approach in Bangkok began by sourcing glass bottles and containers, with a commitment to no single-use plastic used in the restaurants or bars," said Anchalika Kijkanakorn, founder and managing director of Akaryn Hotel Group. "The hotel will extend the initiative for guests on the go with stylish akyra stainless steel water bottles presented on arrival that can be refilled anytime during their stay." Self-service drinking water will be dispensed on every floor and guests can also take their bottles with them on excursions and shopping trips around the city. Bathroom amenities will be presented in locally manufactured "celadon" pottery containers filled with essential oil-based products. Additionally, biodegradable garbage bags will be used in all rooms and shopping bags will be available to encourage guests to refuse plastic bags. The GroveThe Grove hotel in Hertfordshire, England has formed a dedicated green team, new for 2018, that will work to make sure the hotel focuses on sustainability. As part of the push for sustainability, all drinks at the hotel's three restaurants and bars will come plastic-free. They are now replaced with biodegradable paper straws, stirrers and cocktail sticks made from bamboo. The hotel will also continue with existing sustainability initiatives, such as an ongoing partnership with local charity New Hope Trust, a charity set up to help aid the homeless in the local area. Additional new initiatives are also in place and include a move from traditional, printed newspapers to a complimentary newspaper app, available for all guests across the hotel. Hilton Waikoloa VillageThis 4-star hotel in Hawaii has made a commitment to discontinue the use of plastic drinking straws resort-wide in its restaurants, bars, venues and vendors. The Last Straw Campaign comes as an effort to care for Hawaii’s ocean environment by eliminating the impact of plastic straws, one of the top ten marine debris most commonly found in Hawaii. In 2017, the Hilton Waikoloa Village alone used more than 800,000 plastic straws while serving more than 1 million guests. According to the hotel, the Last Straw Campaign is a proactive step to contribute to larger movements like the Strawless Ocean Initiative by Lonely Whale Foundation, One Less Straw by One More Generation, and The Last Plastic Straw, all of which challenge individuals and companies to commit to a sustainable alternative to single use plastic straws. Further, Hawaii lawmakers are considering a senate bill that would prohibit the distribution, sale and provision of plastic straws in the state. The team behind the resort’s straw campaign hopes its efforts will encourage support for the bill and continue the movement toward greater sustainability. The Modern HonoluluThe Modern Honolulu is taking steps in cutting back its plastic production by getting rid of its plastic straws. The hotel announced that it has been 100 percent straw-less for the past three months, with environmentally paper straws available upon request. "Past practice was to automatically put a straw in every drink. Since we have moved to paper we now only do it upon request," Aaron Garsombke, senior restaurant and recreation manager of the hotel, told Hawaii News Now. The Modern Honolulu estimates that it used over 612,000 plastic straws just last year |
