Running a guest lodging business is a challenging but highly rewarding career path. It’s one that enables you to interact with lots of different people while providing an enjoyable experience for them during their vacation time.
There is a range of different properties that you can invest in for your lodging business, from shipping container tiny homes to cabins to large resorts. No matter what type of accommodation you offer to your guests, it’s always a great idea to make it as sustainable as possible.
People are now searching for ways to become more eco-friendly in their lives, including ways to reduce their carbon emissions when they go on vacation.
By making your guest lodge environmentally friendly, you can attract a wider range of people and book guests more easily in your lodge. This helps the environment and your business to continue thriving.
Making your business more sustainable also reduces your total business expenses. You won’t need to buy as many new materials or equipment, you won’t spend as much energy on the utility bills, and you can reduce labor costs by streamlining your daily business operations.
Here are some great ways to make your guest lodge business more economically viable.
Avoid Changing Bed Linen Every Day
If you have a family staying in your lodge for a full week, you don’t need to change the bed linen every single day. Most people are happy to sleep on the same bed sheets for a few days in a row and nobody actually changes their sheets that often at home.
Change the bedsheets twice a week or each time a new guest checks into a room. This will reduce the time you spend cleaning each morning and the amount of water you use.
Use Refillable Containers
Most accommodation businesses provide their guests with mini single-pack versions of everything.
Whether it’s individually-packed jam and butter containers for breakfast or single packs of shampoo and conditioner for the bathroom, you can easily go through hundreds of these products every month. This amounts to a significant volume of plastic waste that is non-biodegradable and may end up in landfills.
Instead, switch to using refillable containers. Place a butter dish in the kitchen of each room and use refillable shampoo and conditioner bottles in the bathroom areas.
If you want to become even more eco-friendly, you could ask your guests to bring their own hair products so you don’t need to purchase any individual containers.
Place Recycling Bins in Every Room
Encourage your guests to recycle their plastic, cardboard, and compostable food waste by placing a recycling bin in every guest room.
You can use different colored bins or add sticky labels to each one and inform your guests of which materials are recyclable, so they know where to put their waste. Empty the bins each week, ready for your local council to take away and recycle.
