Red Carnation Hotels Removes Single-Use Plastics From its Properties

Red Carnation Hotels has announced the eradication of 15 commonly used single-use plastic items from its hotel operations across the world. This month the family-owned collection achieved its goal of eliminating 15 commonly used SUPs from all 17 properties in its collection. The initiative is part of a wider goal set by Red Carnation's parent company, The Travel Corporation (TTC), and its not-for-profit TreadRight Foundation, to eradicate all SUPs from operations across all its travel brands by 2022.  

Many of the SUP items commonly found in hotels, including plastic cocktail stirrers and straws, single portion butter and jams at breakfast, plastic dry cleaning bags, plastic piping bags in the kitchen and even envelopes with plastic windows have now been completely removed from Red Carnation properties and replaced with sustainable alternatives.

Compostable paper straws or metal alternatives are now available at all hotels in the collection, and guests dining at Red Carnation's bbar can now sip their cocktails and beverages through 100 percent biodegradable pasta straws. In-house mixologists are now preparing cocktails with reusable cocktail stirrers made from glass, metal, stainless steel and bamboo, and takeaway coffee cups are plastic free and fully compostable, with coffee lids made from fermented corn starch.    

Plastic water bottles are no longer available at any Red Carnation property. Each hotel has implemented a sustainable water service, either serving filtered water instead of bottled water, or supplying sustainable glass bottles of still and sparkling water. All UK properties have partnered with water supplier Belu, which gives 100 percent of its net profits to its charity partner, WaterAid, in a bid to help the 884 million people currently living without clean drinking water. In 2018, Red Carnation’s support of Belu allowed WaterAid to transform over 2,000 lives through access to clean water, the company said.   

The eradication of SUPs extends to each hotels’ back-of-house operations. All staff canteens are now free from plastic cups and cutlery. Breakfast items like cereals, yogurts and spreads will now be purchased in larger quantities and served in glass bowls, ramekins and jars at the breakfast buffet. In the kitchen, the executive chef and teams at each hotel are now using reusable piping bags made from materials such as silicone to cultivate decorations on cakes, pastries and chocolates. 

As for the hotel rooms, plastic bin liners are no longer used for individual bins in offices, bathrooms and communal staff areas. Coasters that were once placed under bedside water glasses or drinks at the bar are now composed of reusable materials, such as cork and leather or recyclable paper. Remote controls are also no longer placed in plastic bags; instead, a recycled paper wrap is now used to advise guests the remote in their room has been sanitized. 

All 17 properties have been working with individual laundry partners to ensure laundry is collected and delivered without the use of plastic packaging. For example, the towels, bed and restaurant linen at The Montague on the Gardens in London’s Bloomsbury neighborhood is now sent and delivered in cages and protected by re-usable fabric bags instead of plastic. The hotel teams also arrange for a toothbrush with a bamboo or wooden handle to be delivered to the guest's room if required. Other accessories, such as plastic pens and envelopes, have also been removed from operation and replaced with sustainable alternatives. 

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