More energy and water is wasted because of guests leaving appliances on and being careless with water usage. The hotel and leisure industry ultimately poses a large threat to the environment, and alternate water and energy conservation methods are needed to combat this problem.
Various hotels and gyms have gone green and begun to enforce water and energy saving systems to assist efforts to help the environment and to protect the earths natural resources. Recycling has also been instituted to reduce pollution and reduce waste material.
Saving energy in the hotel and leisure industry
Minor and major changes have been made to hotels and gyms to assist in decreasing the amount of power used in establishments. Small changes such as energy saving light bulbs, timers which turn off lights at times of day when they are needed least and the raising of awareness amongst guests and clients about the importance of conserving energy.
Larger changes include smart lighting, passive infra-red sensors, solar panels for energy creation and heat recovery systems.
Smart lighting is a system which adapts the strength of indoor lighting according to the weather. When the weather is dark and gloomy, the indoor lighting increases but when the weather is bright and sunny, less lighting is required inside and the indoor lighting is dimmed.
Passive infra-red sensors detect movement, and when rooms or certain areas in a large room such as a gym studio are empty and the sensors do not detect movement, all electrical appliances are turned off.
Solar panels generate energy through the absorption of sunlight. This avoids pollution as the energy is created from sunlight only and does not require the burning of fuels to create power. Solar power also lowers costs as the panels create their own power and do not need to use energy created in power plants.
Heat recovery systems are especially effective in gyms. Excess energy from the air conditioning system can be used to create power for heating shower water and swimming pools, as can solar power.
Water-wise campaigns for saving water
Water is a precious resource which is running out. On a daily basis, billion of litres of water are wasted by carelessness and frivolity, especially in the hotel and leisure industry. Water conservation efforts have become a priority to many establishments as to prevent the depletion of the planets limited water resources.
Bathroom and kitchen fittings have been replaced with ones which are more economical in terms of water use. Aerated taps and water saving shower heads use far less water and amount annually to massive savings. Proximity sensors have also been introduced to reduce water waste as they detect when people are within close distance to the taps which automatically turn off if there is nobody close-by.
Two way flush systems have also been installed to save water. A two way flush allows for light and heavy flushing according to what is needed, instead of the old flush systems which all used a large amount of water for flushing.
The use of recycled grey-water has been instrumental in saving large quantities of fresh drinking water which would have otherwise been used to flush toilets and irrigate the plant life in gardens surrounding hotels and gyms. Grey-water is used water from showers, wash basins and washing machines which is then recycled and used for flushing and irrigation. Previously, grey-water was cleaned with harmful chemicals before its second use, however recent water recycling systems use an ultra violet cleaning device which is not harmful to the environment but highly effective in killing bacteria.
Hotels have begun to ask guests to place any towels in the bath-tub which they would like washed. This saves water because normally, all towels are washed each day, using far more water than when only dirty towels are washed.
The hotel and leisure industry has also introduced water saving practices in their gardens. As well as the use of grey-water to irrigate plant life, the removal of alien vegetation helps to conserve water as these plants consume so much of it. Borehole water is now used by many hotel and leisure establishments to save water.
The millions of hotels and leisure establishments worldwide can make a significant difference to stop the depletion of water and electric resources. Through conserving water and electricity with the use of water-wise bathroom systems and behaviour, the amount of water and energy wastage and pollution can be reduced.