Reducing The Environmental Impact Of Your Hotel's Towel Use

When you're running a hotel, the demands of customers take priority, and there are many little details that need to be perfect in order for them to have an enjoyable stay. One detail that's essential for a comfortable stay is having plenty of clean, dry, fluffy towels, and this small detail can often leave a big impression on guests. 

However, if you're trying to build green credentials, then you may be concerned about the amount of towels used and how they're cleaned. That's why it's so important to have the right policies and services in place, and to properly manage your hotel's towel requirements.

Why are Hotel Towels So Important?

The supply of plentiful, luxurious towels makes the hotel experience so much more pleasant for guests. If you've invested in lovely bathrooms with soaking tubs or rain head showers, and your guests have just stepped out and reached for a towel, they expect a certain luxurious quality. Towels that feel rough, aren't big enough or worst of all, aren't completely clean, can lead to bad reviews online, and show you're not aware of the basics.

Environmental Impact

Of course, with many guests staying one night, and a fresh set of hotel towels being changed each time, this can equate to a big impact on the environment. If your hotel, or chain of hotels, is trying to gain green credentials, then it's often areas such as towels that you'll want to make more efficient.

Green Suppliers

No matter the number of towels you use, if you don't use a green supplier that uses environmentally friendly methods, then your hotel cannot boast green credentials. Working with a company such as Stalbridge Linen means that you can be sure there are policies in place to keep towels and other linens clean, without harming the environment.

New Techniques

While it can be difficult to cut down on the towels used in hotels, while still keeping a high standard, there are luckily ways that towels can be cleaned in an environmental way without sacrificing quality.

This could be by:

• Using detergents that are environmentally sound
• Cutting down on waste wate
• Ensuring waste is recycled
• Recycling or donating towels that are no longer usable

By doing these things, the carbon footprint generated by the washing of towels can be cut down considerably, and this helps your hotel to stay green.

Logistics

A large part of the environmental impact caused by towel laundering is due to transporting them. They are often picked up in lorries, which means more vehicles on the road, and can mean long journeys for your towels just to get laundered. Ideally, it's better to get them laundered by a company that has several depots, as this means there's less miles they need to travel, and this cuts down on the CO2 emissions used.

Guest Participation

Getting people involved in saving the environment is essential to meeting your goals, and if guests know that you're a green hotel, they're more likely to help you comply with your policies.

Some hotels have started putting signs in guest bathrooms asking visitors to reuse their towels whenever possible. If they know you want towels reused, then they're more likely to hang them up and dry them off. You could ask that towels that definitely need reusing be placed in the bathtub for housekeeping, making it easier to keep track of which ones need a clean.

Advertising

A big advantage to having environmental policies is that you can use this fact in advertising your hotel, making it more likely that those from fellow green businesses will want to stay. By taking simple measures such as cutting down on the waste generated by towels, you have a great way to advertise your business and start conversations with potential customers.

Clean Towels

Using environmentally friendly cleaning services doesn't mean you have to sacrifice quality. When you work in hospitality, you know the importance of being able to make all those little touches perfect, and this includes clean, fluffy towels. Your guests will want to feel like they're the first person to use their towel, and this means you need a high level of cleaning service that only the professionals can provide.

Good Reviews

One thing that people worry about when they decide to cut down on the amount of towels they use, or try to introduce environmental policies, is how it'll affect their reviews. Ideally, they want to keep the same high level of service, with perfectly clean towels, but somehow cut back on the amount they use and how they clean them. 

When you work with companies such as Stalbridge Linen, who understand the hospitality industry and how it works, you can be sure that you don't sacrifice service when seeking green credentials.

Hotel Linen Hire with a Sustainable Edge

Towels are an important part of any hotel's service, but they're also one of the things that use the biggest carbon footprint. That's why, when looking for ways to turn your hotel green, you should look at ways to improve your towel usage figures. From handing out less, to finding a company who can provide a service that's as green as possible, there are lots of options to balance service with environmentally. 

If you’re in search of a hotel linen hire company that prioritises sustainable practices, look no further than Stalbridge Linen Services. Our sustainability strategy, The Johnson's Way, outlines the framework that underpins our approach to sustainability and our vision for a better future. We implement eco-friendly practices across our entire business operations - not only to reduce our impact, but also to help you bolster your green credentials.

If you’d like more information about our sustainability strategy, or about our premium-quality selection of hotel towels and linen, please get in touch today.