Our Green Policy
At The Connacht Hotel, we are passionate about sustainability & are committed to making a positive impact on the environment by implementing effective green practices and procedures throughout our hotel. We currently hold the Silver Award with Green Hospitality Ireland and are well on our way to achieving the Gold Award.
We began our ‘Green’ journey in 2018 & our fantastic staff are key to our success in delivering a more sustainable and environmentally friendly service. Their invaluable input, insight and engagement is at the core of our achievements to date. Many initiatives have already been introduced and new ideas are emerging & evolving daily. We recognize that sustainability is a never-ending journey and are excited for the road ahead.
SILVER AWARD - LABEL WITH GREEN HOSPITALITY
We have been awarded the Silver Award with Green Hospitality since February 2020. We have made numerous changes so far across all departments with many more being introduced in an on-going basis.
You Choose Us, You Choose Green
The Five C’s Sustainability Strategy
• Carbon Footprint – monitoring to reduce our carbon omissions through waste reduction & the use of green energy
• Conservation – to save for later use & to protect the environment
• Co-operation – adopting the policies & embracing change
• Commitment – to manage and reduce the consumption of goods, energy & unsustainable products
• Community – to work together sharing a common understanding
Carbon footprint
We follow the process of metering, measuring, monitoring, evaluating and managing our waste, energy, water and carbon in order to reduce:
- All showers are fitted with water reduction heads
- Showers in our Leisure Centre and staff changing rooms are operated by push button
- Key card activated power in all guest rooms
- Jacuzzi cover in place to retain heat
- All light bulbs changed to LED lighting
- Installation of a CHP unit in 2020
- Food waste monitored on a continual basis in order to minimize wastage
- Use green energy where possible
- Green Purchasing Policy in place
- Most of our food products are produced within Galway and the surrounding area
- ‘Meat free Monday’s’ for staff meals every week
- Encourage guests & staff to walk or use public transport
- Electric Car Chargers located in our car park
Conservation
- All takeaway cups and their lids are 100% compostable and compost bins are accessible
- In Spring 2019, we planted 3 Bee Gardens, fully planted with over 2000 bee-friendly flowers and plants that will re-remerge every year and help grow a bee population that is in decline.
- The used coffee grounds from the hotel are collected and used as fertilizer in our gardens
Co-operation
- Adopting new ideas / adapting practices / embracing change
- Waste Management programme in place with waste separation available in guest rooms, staff areas and public areas
- All our staff follow our ‘Think Before You Print’ policy
- We encourage guests to follow our 7 steps to a greener stay:
1. Please turn off lights & TVs when they are not in use
2. Why not Walk or use public transport?
3. Use the recycling bins provided in your bedroom
4. All guest information is on your TV screens to reduce printing
5. Choose not to have a straw with your drink
6. Try order only what you think you will eat at breakfast
7. Why not have your receipt for your stay emailed to you?
Commitment
To be fully engaged in the reduction of our energy consumption and waste production through dedication, education, reducing & reusing. We aim to continue to reduce our landfill waste.
- We follow a strict waste separation policy with all waste segregated into general, recycling & compost
- Oil Filtration System in use which reuses oil, consuming less and saving in oil used. This results in less deliveries, less pickups and reduction in carbon footprint
- Electronic messaging in guest rooms and public areas, reducing paper usage
- Green Meetings Program in place with no plastic glasses or water drums used. Stationary station rather than stationary per person, resulting in less paper & pen usage
- We aim to dramatically reduce the use of single use, non-compostable plastics
- Plastic cups are no longer available in the gym & members are asked to bring their own refillable bottles
- We use environmentally friendly soap & shampoo in our bedrooms with no single use toiletries available
- We have significantly reduced our single use plastics throughout our F&B operations
Community
- Working together with a common understanding
- Active involvement with local charities and sponsorships – this year we will be gifting our employees with a tree for their birthday
- Promotion of our ‘green’ message through our social media channels
- Tree Planting on the hotel grounds
- Regular beach clean ups of our local shores & coastline
- Donating old/unwanted goods to charity
Key Statistics to Date
Due to the impact of Covid-19 on normal business levels in 2020, we are using 2019 as our benchmark year. Below are some of our key statistics from 2019:
- LED lights installed have resulted in 19% reduction in energy consumption
- Paper usage was reduced by 19% (7 trees saved)
- Takeaway cup usage was reduced by 75%
- Straw usage reduced by 61%
- Toilet roll usage reduced by 10%
- Recyclability rate increased by 53%
Our Future Plans
We are well on the way to achieving the Gold Award with Green Hospitality Ireland with a long-term plan to become carbon neutral and even carbon positive.
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