Housekeeping is at the frontline of any hotel business. Their contact with guests and their presentation of rooms for guest appreciation is of utmost importance.

It is often overlooked that housekeeping plays a critical role in creating sustainability in the hotel. 

Train your teams to learn company values when it comes to cleaning green

Having eco-friendly products and processes in place is of no value if staff aren’t making use of them. Each employee has individual beliefs in regards to environmentally friendly practices, therefore it is important for hotels to offer training for their staff. This way it will assist hotels to conserve water that might otherwise be wasted when leaving taps open while cleaning and by unnecessary flushing of toilets.

Not only is the hotel environment positively affected, but it will also carry over into other aspects of the employees' lives as well. Hotels can focus on a number of areas when it comes to training their staff, this includes water management, energy efficiency, waste segregation and recycling.

Products with less packaging

Anyone who has stayed in a hotel will be familiar with the packing material of tiny guest amenities. Often neatly boxed, once the box is open, the item is still packed in a plastic sleeve. While we understand that this is done for hygiene reasons, this is simply double packaging, which will just be thrown away, ending up in a garbage dump or landfill.

Hotels will always be ordering items in bulk. So make sure to choose companies that offer eco-friendly packaging or communicate with your favourite brand that there are steps they could take to package their products more efficiently.

Sustainability program so guests help cut down on washing

It has been standard practice for hotel guests to get their bed linens and towels changed daily. While this is certainly a perk for guests, when thinking green there’s a lot of doubt over whether it’s really necessary. Therefore, many hotels have adopted a sustainability policy in which the guest has the option to opt-out of the daily change of linens. 

After all, less washing means less harm to the environment.

It’s also a positive way to portray your environmental policies to guests when an information card is placed in the bathroom or on the bedside table. 

Eco-friendly cleaning products

Many of the products that we use in everyday tasks in our hotels can have a tremendous impact on the environment and the people around them. Therefore it is necessary to have eco-friendly products which come as concentrates - including disinfectants, glass and window cleaners, liquid soaps, degreasers, laundry detergents and many more.

About the author

Tatjana Ahmed is the Director of Housekeeping at Grand Hyatt Dubai and Chairwoman of the UAE Housekeepers Association.