Today's world is urgently prioritizing sustainability, and the adoption of eco-friendly practices is crucial to the hotel industry's role. Despite this need, becoming more "earth-friendly" can appear overwhelming.
The good news is that guests are more willing to associate with transparent and ethical brands. According to a Booking.com study, more than 50% of travelers consider eco-friendly practices when choosing a hotel. So it’s worth it to take a closer look, wouldn’t you agree?
That’s why, in this article, we highlight five easy-to-adopt steps for hotels to become more sustainable in the long-term, drawing inspiration for real-life steps that Hoxell hotel customers have taken. The adoption of these strategies with the help of the Hoxell Quality Operations Platform can significantly boost the eco-friendly efforts of hotels and yield favorable outcomes.
Paperless Operations - made simple with Hoxell
Beyond being used in hotel interiors and being the perfect way to portray sustainability - wood, the primary raw material in papermaking - plays a crucial role in our day-to-day, from writing notes and memos to creating checklists and more. Yet, this dependence creates a problem. As we know, paper isn't some magical byproduct of nature, but instead a result of one of the most valuable resources: wood. As a result, wastage of paper may ultimately threaten various species and have a harmful impact on the climate.
Approaching this sustainability challenge can be done with consideration for the important role that trees play in our ecosystem. Countless billions of animals depend on forests for habitat, and the ability of trees to absorb CO2 is essential in mitigating the impacts of greenhouse gases. How can we tackle this issue while prioritizing sustainability?
By eliminating excessive paper usage in hotel operations, Hoxell's practical digital platform contributes significantly to sustainability by replacing traditional paper-based processes and eliminating the use of toner by 100%.The platform offers various essential features and tools for managing checklists, handbooks, notifications, and team communication seamlessly and digitally. By transitioning to Hoxell, hotels can efficiently manage operations while reducing their environmental footprint and support climate and biodiversity conservation efforts in a world where paper waste is a concern. Easy enough, no?
Minimize Food Waste - Maximize F&B Profitability
Food waste is now becoming increasingly prominent on the hospitality industry agenda, prompting leading hotels to take proactive measures. AccorHotels, for example, has set itself the ambitious goal of reducing food waste by 30% across all of its hotels by 2023. The American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA), launched an initiative to combat food waste in the U.S. hotel industry, and the list goes on. These efforts highlight the growing importance of tackling food waste.
Amazingly, a staggering two-thirds of avoidable food waste happens before it reaches the customer's plate. Given the scale of this problem, innovative solutions have been developed to effectively combat food waste. One of the easier-to-implemet ones, is included within Hoxell. With the breakfast module, reducing food waste becomes part of the day-to-day procedure. This module introduces the basic functionality that enables hotels to accurately track guest consumption and replenish buffets without excessive waste. Keep an eye out for more unique ideas on how to reduce food-waste within your hotel on blog.
Extend Equipment Lifespan through Maintenance with Hoxell:
Sustainable practices involve maximizing the lifespan of the existing equipment - from maintenance to electrical devices. Preventative maintenance plays a vital role in achieving this goal. Hoxell facilitates sustainable and proper equipment maintenance by connecting checklists with detailed maintenance procedures outlined in the digital handbooks.
Through the use of effective communication tools during routine and day-to-day inspections, Hoxell ensures that the responsible staff members are informed about potential maintenance issues before bigger problems arise.
Having to replace expensive equipment, earlier than expected, is a feeling that every hotelier and hotelière knows far too well. Sustainable practices involve maximizing the lifespan of the existing equipment - from maintenance to electrical devices. Preventative maintenance plays a vital role in achieving this goal, for example, you might ask yourself:
- Do we regularly clean our refrigerator's condenser?
- Are the cooling fins of the heating system clean enough?
- Do check the sealing strip of the minibar?
The common denominator in those questions is: "prevention". With Hoxell, a preventative maintenance and correct inspection of your equipment becomes a breeze.
Digital handbooks and checklists can be linked to manual entries that show how to maintain equipment in a structured, detailed manner, supported by image and video material. By extending the lifespan of your equipment, you minimize waste, save costs, and demonstrate your commitment to sustainability. And on top of that, employees and guests enjoy perfectly functioning equipment.
Streamline Processes for Sustainable Quality Assurance:
It’s great when every single process in your hotel runs like clockwork, not just today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, but consistently and sustainably - Hoxell’s goal, is to help you do just that. Use the communication and handover tools to quickly provide information to your entire team. Since messages can be accessed anytime and anywhere by the right people, relevant information will not be lost, and part-time employees or employees returning from vacation can be notified as soon as they return to the company.
Hoxell also ensures sustainability when it comes to personnel planning. Especially with housekeeping, there are intense and quiet phases. With the “Hoxell Housekeeping”, you always know exactly how many employees are needed where and when, and can quickly create a schedule with no idle time or bottlenecks. If you are tired of having to handle paper checklists and outdated SOPs, the digital processes and checklists in Hoxell are just for you.
A convenient search function guarantees that you and your staff will find everything you are looking for, and you have the opportunity to continuously expand your company's knowledge base – for example, by adding waste management procedures - see? Sustainability is everywhere!
Sustainable communication and quality assurance often seem like time-consuming goals for hotels. With Hoxell, you can have it all in one platform.
Harness Team Innovation for Sustainable Solutions:
Satisfied employees are the guarantee of any hotel’s success - pretty obvious, so apologies for stating what we all know. But it still ist worth mentioning because your team plays a vital role in the level of sustainability your hotel can reach. With creative tools on a digital platform, Hoxell offers a unique possibility for your employees to contribute their ideas and thus actively participate in the further development of the property. These ideas can then be deepened in discussions, thought through and finally implemented. How sustainable is housekeeping? What about the kitchen? With Hoxell, the search for solutions starts directly with the experts, your employees in various departments who know exactly where the difficulties and low-hanging fruits lie to integrate new, sustainable solutions. This opportunity to help shape the sustainability route of your hotel, increases buy-in with the entire staff cohort, and increases the enthusiasm your team brings to their day-to-day work.
Conclusion:
As the hospitality industry takes small but important strides towards more sustainability, it is imperative for hotels to adopt green practices to minimize their environmental impact and increase operational efficiency.
By implementing these five sustainability practices inspired by real-world initiatives, your hotel can not only become a green pioneer in the industry, but also optimize costs at the same time. Powered by Hoxell's innovative tools and capabilities, you can seamlessly integrate sustainability into your operations, improve team collaboration and drive positive change.