May
Does Going “Green” In Hotels Make You More Money?
In this case probably it does!
This month we’re looking at chemicals used around the hotel and in particular the housekeeping departments.
Did you know there were 81,000 chemicals registered with the EPA in the last 30 years? Reports tell us that fewer than 20% have been tested for toxicity. That’s a bit scary considering the everyday use of these products.
Going “Green” in the cleaning of hotel guest rooms probably conjures up using well know products like baking soda, white vinegar and salt!
Hardly practical when it comes to cleaning hundreds of rooms everyday.
Health and safety issues in chemicals used for cleaning by hotel staff are pretty well known. Cost of a sick leave provision for staff is a real issue for management. Improper use of chemicals and anything that goes down the drain costs money to the hotel and the environment.
So what product has technology bought to us in the last 15 years that is used extensively in hospitals and can resolve all of the issues mentioned earlier? I won’t give you the answer just yet but I do have some hard facts for you to consider from a 5 star hotel in Sydney that has completed a comprehensive trial to prove the true worth of not using chemicals.
-
They had a 3% higher rating from guest comment cards that room cleanliness was better.
-
This was backed up by a bacterial swab count which came out lower than chemical cleaned surfaces.
-
Infra red light tests for dirt buildup showed negative.
-
And reports, that to the naked eye, glazed and metal surfaces such as sinks and kettles as an example looked to have an enhanced appearance.
-
“They looked cleaner”. Great that’s what keeps the guests happy!!
The trial by the hotel did include costings in terms of products and labour, training and was completed in March 07.
Feedback from the housekeeping staff was very good with comments like -
-
“The method used was less physically strenuous”
-
“Feel good about less chemical usage and its helping the environment”
-
“Far less water used”
In addition to the positive comments – 2 big factors were…
-
Chemical costs were reduced by 80%.
-
Water usage was down by a million litres.
OK, so what are we talking about?
Microfiber of course.
Used in hospitals since the 1990s – it’s a water based cleaning solution invented and developed in Sweden in the 1990s.
Just how high tech is Microfiber cloth?
Well when these guys say the fibre is thinner than human hair, that’s only part of the story.
Actually one square centimeter of Microfiber contains over 30 kilometers of fibre.
But that’s not all round surface threads on a traditional cloth are not really designed to pickup dirt particles. Microfiber secret is the fibres are wedge shaped and that makes the millions of fibres much more effective in trapping the dirt particles. Hence the reason no chemicals are required.
The cloth is simply washed out with water at the end of the day for re-use the next day.
All in all, a genuine Green proven product.
Until next time…
Greg

June 11th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
This is such a timely article.
More and more hotels ARE going this direction and NEED to go this direction.
Once again, you are at the forefront of information and what hotels can do to save money, be environmentally friendly, as well as save staff unnecessary labour.
Thank you
Scott