Go Green

Our Glass Bottle Reduction Recycling Service sends a message about your environmental commitment to your community; in addition to saving you

money.

 Being in the Las Vegas hospitality business, whether it be a hotel, bed and breakfast, resort or any other guest facilities, making your

business more sustainable is a good business choice.  

 When you decide to make recycling one of the green actions your hotel takes, make sure to promote it to guests and website visitors so they know what you are doing.

 People like to support environmental causes, and you'll find that many

guests chose you over another property because of your environmental program and recycling efforts. 

Many customers are attracted to eco-friendly

hotel practices and many of the practices can save your business money and make it more efficient, a win-win outcome.

Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

Save water.

Installing low-flow showerheads and sink aerators.

Switching to low-flow toilets or install toilet-tank fill diverters.

Repair leaky taps and toilets. Implement a preventive maintenance program to catch leaks.

Set urinals with programmable automatic flush valves to a water-saving mode.

Install dual flush toilets. 

These can use less than one gallon per flush compared to standard 1.5-gallon models.

In public areas of the hotel, use faucets that incorporate motion sensing or infrared on/off technology.

Purchase water-efficient dishwashers.

Do not use running water to defrost food.

Do not let the tap run while cleaning vegetables. Rinse them in a plugged sink.

Pre-rinse nozzles in the kitchen can save tens of thousands of gallons of water per year.

Consider closed-loop or reclamation systems that recycle water. Some laundry systems offer this capability.

Incorporate separate water meters throughout the property.

Water-softening systems can reduce the amount of scale build-up in pipes and ultimately help reduce water consumption.

Gardening with an ecosystem and water-saving conservation.

Collect rainwater and use it for lawn and landscaping irrigation.

Switch to drought resistant native plants in garden areas.

Water grass and plants only when needed.

Replace mowed landscaping with native ground cover.

Water early in the morning or late in the afternoon when evaporation is minimal.

Use a broom rather than a hose to clean outdoor paths and paved areas.

Reduce your lawn area by using native shrubs and plants. 

They require less water.

Leave your grass clippings on the lawn.

Mulching can prevent up to 70 percent of evaporative loss.

Set targets for water consumption.

Save energy.

Provide nightlights near bathrooms. Guests often leave a light on at night because rooms are dark.

Install window film to lower heating and cooling loads and reduce glare in guestrooms.

Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs in guestrooms, lobbies and hallways.

Use sensors and/or timers for areas that are infrequently used.

Replace exit signs with Light Emitting Diode (LED) exit signs.

Install energy misers on vending machines.

Encourage staff to use stairs when moving between one to two floors when not carrying loads.

Purchase toilet paper rolls that are “coreless.”

Install hand dryers in public restrooms to minimize paper consumption.

Monitor, record and post rates of energy and water use.

Make repairs or replace equipment when rate changes indicate problems (filter changes, coil cleaning, thermostat calibration, and

damper adjustments in your ongoing maintenance plan.

Purchase "Energy Star" appliances wherever possible. Replace old washing machines with both water and energy conserving models.

Implement an employee awareness program and encourage them to report energy waste to maintenance managers.

Shut down one or more of your elevators during periods of light traffic.

Program your elevator to remain stationary on the exiting floor rather than returning to the main floor.

Install ceiling fans in public areas where appropriate. These can reduce heating or cooling costs by as much as 40 percent.

Install draperies with thermal reflective liners.

Tint windows that receive direct sun.

Implement a comprehensive preventive maintenance program to monitor all potential areas of energy consumption.

Participate in as many Energy Star programs as possible.

Purchase minibars that use LED lighting and that incorporate energy-efficient cooling systems.

Clean your refrigerator condenser coils at least every three months.

Use an energy management system (EMS) to tie in air handling units, HVAC, and lighting to prevent conditioning space when it is not necessary. 

Replace electric package terminal air conditioner (PTAC) units with more efficient heat pumps or other geothermal technologies. 

Consult outside sources to evaluate the total system, when replacing major mechanical equipment.

Avoid disposable products. 

Disposable products fill up landfills and create garbage on your property. 
Vanity packs typically contain items such as shower caps, cotton wool and sewing kits. 

They can end up being thrown away, contributing to 
landfill. Hotels can help cut back on waste by offering 
the packs on request. 

Make sure, where possible, the contents and packaging
use recycled materials – and are themselves recyclable.

 

 Instead of providing small bottles of shower gel and shampoo, hotels can help the environment by using refillable dispensers. This cuts down on packaging and product waste, saving natural resources and preventing landfill.

Give guests the opportunity to hang up their towel instead of tossing it in the bath immediately for changing and use their bed linens more than once.

When guests participate (between 68% and 72% of guests participate) and re-use their sheets and towels, hotels save money in reduced water, energy, labor, detergent, and sheet/towel replacement costs. 

          Place signs in your guest rooms indicating that this program is operational.

Clean green. 

•        Use non-toxic cleaning fluids least-toxic sanitizers, cleaners paints, pesticides, etc. throughout the hotel.

 •        If labels include the words "caution," "warning," "danger," or "poison," opt for a green alternative.

•        Offer bilingual green tips and reminders to housekeepers.

•        Do not use toilet tank cleaning tablets or powders.

•        Use mechanical methods to clean obstructed pipes—not toxic or corrosive drain cleaners.

•        Switch to cylindrical floor machines. 

Cylindrical machines use little water and chemicals. They also use brushes, not pads as with a rotary machine, which counter-rotate underneath the machine.   

This helps minimize the amount of dust that can become airborne. Additionally, one set of brushes can last as long as 100 rotary pads, placing less of a burden on landfills.

For pest elimination, consider non-toxic options such as heat treatments or freezing.

                                                                        

Always Recycle

  Provide guestroom recycling baskets for newspaper, white paper, glass, aluminum, cardboard, and plastic. 

  Recycling bins around a hotel encourage a more responsible approach to refuse disposal, making it as easy for hotel guests to recycle.

        

 Monitor trash in dumpsters to make sure recyclables are not being sent to the landfill.

         

 Clearly label recycling containers so that it is understood what can or cannot be placed in them.

         

 Provide recycling bins in the back office (including one at each desk) to make recycling as easy as possible.

          

Buy office and guest amenity products that contain recycled material. 

 Use recycled paper products (with high post-consumer recycled content) that are either unbleached or bleached using a chlorine-free process. Reduce paper size of invoices and print with soy-based inks.

    Buy organic, fair trade, cruelty-free guest amenity products whenever possible.

        Make it known to your guest that your company supports such products. Such as:

•         hair and body care

•         bedding and guest robes

•         coffee, tea and chocolate, etc.

                                                                     

Sales & Marketing

1.   Set aside a portion of your room inventory for EcoRooms, PURE rooms or other similar green room programs that enable you

      to market your hotel as environmentally friendly.

2.   Participate in community/national initiatives that involve environmental cleanup or protection. Send out a press release to local

      or national media about these events. Include information about your initiatives on your website and in your guestroom directory.

3.   Teach your front desk people how to make your guests aware of your efforts.

4.   Offer free or discounted parking to guests who drive hybrid vehicles.

5.   Market your hotel to organizations that seek out green-friendly meeting spaces.

6.   Get listed on websites that provide green hotels directories.

7.   Obtain an Energy Star rating for your hotel. Check for the Energy Star logo when purchasing any appliance or office equipment.

8.   Compile a report of your hotel's green accomplishments and make it available to stockholders, guest and others.

Recycling Bottles - What Are the Benefits

Recycle - taking a product or material at the end of its useful life and turning it into a usable raw material to make another product. 

  

What are the Benefits of Recycling?

Recycling is a proven way to reduce air and water pollution, reduce energy consumption and decrease greenhouse gases emissions linked to global warming. The glass containing your soda today might be the glass containing your spaghetti sauce tomorrow. That's because glass, especially glass food and beverage containers, can be recycled over and over again. 

In fact, 90 percent of recycled glass is used to make new containers. Recycling glass saves energy as compared to using raw ingredients to make new glass. The Glass Packaging Institute notes that energy costs drop about 2-3% for every 10% of recycled glass used in the manufacturing process. 

Besides being cost effective, glass bottle recycling also reduces resource use and pollution from CO2 emissions.

 Manufacturers Need Your Bottles.

 

Beverage container recycling has been declining in recent years despite increased public knowledge of the benefits of recycling. 

However, the amount of beverage containers that are being sold and consumed has increased over time, which means we're disposing of more material that is needed by manufacturers to meet single-serving beverage container demand.

When we recycle, glass bottles and jars go from recycling bin to store shelf in as little as 30 days. An estimated 80% of recovered glass containers are made into new glass bottles.

Recycling Conserves Resources.

There is only a finite amount of resources on this planet. Although some are renewable, our demand for resources is very high. By recycling, we reduce our demand for raw material to make the products we use.

We return valuable materials back into the economic system, creating jobs, supporting businesses, and reducing our rate of resource consumption.

 Recycling Glass Helps the Environment.

Environmental payoffs – Glass is 100% recyclable.  Recycling glass bottles and jars minimizes consumption of raw materials and lessens demand for energy. It also keeps this valuable resource out of landfills. 

The glass recycling process is a closed-loop system, creating no additional waste or by-products. For container glass, a relative 10% increase in cullet reduces particulates by 8%, nitrogen oxide by 4%, and sulfur oxides by 10%. And, for every six tons of recycled container glass used, one ton of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is reduced.

Saves raw material - or every ton of glass recycled, over a ton or raw materials are saved, including 1,300 pounds of sand, 410 pounds of soda ash, 380 pounds of limestone, and 160 pounds of feldspar.

Lowers the bottom-line - Using recycled glass can cut overall production costs by minimizing consumption of raw materials, lowering energy demands, and extending life of the furnace and other equipment.

Reduces landfill dependence -Recycling glass helps to preserve natural resources while lessening the load on landfills—and helping communities avoid expensive disposal costs.