TRENDING
BEYOND
HOW HOTELS ARE FINDING ALTERNATIVES TO SINGLE-USE WATER BOTTLES .
Contributed by KAREN KROLL
plastic
Robin Moore
Every minute , consumers
across the globe purchase one million plastic bottles , most for drinking water , The Guardian reports . Many of these purchases occur in areas in which tap water is safe to drink , and most bottles end up as litter . As more hotel companies announce that they are eliminating single-use plastic straws from waste streams , a growing number have announced or begun plans to reduce or even eliminate the use of single-use bottled water . More than half — 58 % — of participants in the Green
Lodging Trends Report offer hydration or water-filtration systems , says Eric Ricaurte , founder and CEO of Greenview , a sustainability consultancy based in Singapore and New York .
When Alila Villas Uluwatu in Bali opened in 2009 , it stocked glass water bottles that it purchased from a supplier . While the bottles could be re-used , they first had to be trucked back to the supplier . In 2014 , after a year of work , the resort completed a water bottling system that allows it to fill bottles onsite . They currently fill about 8,000 each month .
The hotel , which doesn ’ t charge for the bottles , has cut the ongoing cost of purchasing water from a supplier and no longer has to truck bottles back and forth , a representative says , adding , “ We ’ re heading toward our goal to contribute zero waste to landfills .”
‘ NEW NORMAL ’ Reusable bottles appeal to increasingly eco-conscious guests ; as well , they eliminate the effort required to recycle or dispose of single-use versions . “ It ’ s becoming the new normal ,” says Xenia
12 hotelsmag . com September 2018