Feature // Is Covid an opportunity for cleaner, greener hotels?

730 565 Hamish Kilburn
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Feature // Is Covid an opportunity for cleaner, greener hotels?

Following an engaging discussion about sustainability with Bill Bensley at Hotel Designs LIVE, we asked session sponsor Silentnight Group how Covid-19 will impact the industry’s stance on hygiene and eco-friendly behaviour. Sales Director, David Lawenson writes…

The past seven months has been challenging for the hospitality industry. The current global pandemic has hit the industry hard and reopening has been a confusing and staggered process. At a time where the current topic of the moment is cleanliness, could the post-pandemic environment be an opportunity for cleaner, greener hotels?

David Lawrenson, Sales Director of Hospitality at Silentnight Group believes that it could be the push that businesses in the hospitality industry needs to choose sustainable options. “Sustainability promotes a healthier environment, both inside and outside of a hotel property, and given the recent pandemic, this has never been more relevant.”

Image credit: Silentnight Group

In recent years, sustainability has shifted from a niche concern to a mainstream opportunity, and current trends are being driven towards sustainable practices. In response, we have seen a big shift in the way brands in other industries are responding to sustainability, and it could be time for the hospitality industry to follow. Becoming carbon neutral could soon be the minimum for hospitality suppliers, and there will be movement towards businesses becoming carbon negative too.

Silentnight Group are proud to be carbon neutral, and through their eco-friendly product development, progressive work practices and their partnership with the Marine conservation Society, they are determined to make the world a greener place, maintaining their position as a trusted mainstream brand at the same time. As a mass market manufacturer simply switching to ‘naturals’ like cotton or wool was not a commercial option for Silentnight.

Angela Moran Product Strategy Director at Silentnight explains: “Instead we took inspiration from the likes of Nike, Adidas and Patagonia and take single use plastics and turn them into new products. Whilst there is much media hype demonising plastic following Blue Planet, it’s not so much plastic per se, but the littering of plastic, particularly single use, that’s the problem.

“Circular economy thinking makes perfect sense for any business because ultimately it’s about being a resource efficient business. In nature there is no waste as everything is re-cycled. We’re taking another industry’s waste product and converting it into new comfort fibres, therefore adding value by making new consumer goods.”

Taking inspiration from the principles of the circular economy, Silentnight’s innovative Eco Comfort filling contains intelligent fibres made from recycled plastic bottles. Not only does each mattress prevent 150 plastic bottles from entering the waste stream, but the high-tech design process offers greater breathability and is available at an affordable price point. Thus far, the Eco Comfort filling has prevented a staggering 105 million plastic bottles from entering landfill and oceans.

Silentnight’s Eco Comfort 1200 Pocket mattress has been awarded a ‘Which? Best Buy’ 5 years running and is the brands best-selling mattress online, proving that sustainable design doesn’t always mean paying a premium for the consumer or sacrificing sales as a brand.

It could be said that the pandemic has handed the hospitality industry the opportunity to harness sustainable practices. With the many changes required due to government legislation, potentially fewer guests permitted into hospitality venues and a need to focus on being a resource efficient business, it could be a perfect time to introduce small changes that together, could have a big impact on the environment.

Silentnight Group, which provides sustainable sleeping solutions for the hospitality industry, was a session sponsor for Hotel Designs LIVE, which took place on October 13, 2020.

Main image credit: Silentnight Group

Hamish Kilburn / 03.11.2020

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