Environmental Policy

The Staff and Management of The Ashe Hotel are committed to continuously finding means to reducing our water, energy and waste as well as making environmentally conscious decisions. In February 2023, our team began the 50 Shades Greener method of implementing an effective environmental management system.

The 50 Shades Greener method is to;

1. Measure – quantify our usage of utilities including waste, water and energy
2. Observe – our staff’s behaviour around utility usage and our hotel’s ability to manage and conserve resources effectively
3. Implement – ensure the Green Action Plan, devised by the green team, is employed successfully
4. Monitor & Report – after reducing the hotel’s carbon emissions, we are committed to monitoring our progress on a monthly basis.

Our Main Goals for 2024 are:

• To remove all single use plastics throughout the hotel.
• To provide two electric vehicle charging points at the hotel.
• To produce an Environmental Plan for all staff to adhere to, this ideally would be done on an annual basis.
• To see a 10% reduction in water consumption in the hotel.
• To see a 5% reduction in our electricity consumption.
• To achieve sound environmental practices across our entire operation we measure the following: Energy consumption kWh per m2 per annum / litre water per sleeper/kg of food waste per cover/ kg of waste per sleeper.
• Reduce the hotels consumption of energy, waste and water usage by 10% from 2023 to 2024.
• In 2024 we aim to make our guest bedrooms as ‘Green’ as possible. We will achieve this by
  • Utilising eco-friendly cleaning products
  • All single use plastic removed from guest bedrooms
  • The use of water technology and aerator in our guest bathrooms to reduce water waste
  • Implement a waste management method that includes recycle training on all products to be provided to all accommodation staff.
  • All bedroom products purchased by local suppliers, with sustainable practices.
• Each hotel resident will have the opportunity to “Opt out of daily room services”, this small change will have a big impact on our daily energy, waste and water usage.
• To comply fully with all relevant legislation outlined by the Government of Ireland.
• To reduce and minimize, analyse and report monthly on our waste, electricity, gas, carbon, and water consumption reductions.
• All paper in bedrooms including tissues and toilet paper are from recyclable paper provided by local company Tork.
• Our cleaning products and linen are sourced from a local companies located 18km away.
• To Reduce, Re-use and Recycle the resources consumed by our business wherever practical
• To invite our suppliers and contractors to participate in our efforts to protect the environment
• To monitor and record our environmental impacts on a regular basis and compare our performance with our policies, objectives, and targets
• All guests and customers will be brought to the attention of our eco-friendly and green initiatives, all staff encourage any guest or customer to follow these initiatives as best they can so that we can achieve our environmental goals.
• Within all our guest bathrooms there is a welcome card that details our policy on linen re-use. All guests are asked to hang up any towels in their bathroom that they would wish to re-use and any towels they want changed to be either placed in the bathtub or on the floor and they will be given fresh ones when the room is being serviced.

• Our HR Dept will be 95% paperless by Dec 2024
• Ensure all existing team members receive training on sustainability by Dec 2024
• Ensure sustainability training is incorporated into induction Training by April 2024

• We encourage our staff to avail of the Government supported Bike To Work Scheme.

 

Our past actions include:

• Miniature toiletry bottles have been replaced with larger luxury refillable dispensers.
• Our take away cups are now compostable.
• We use compostable paper straws and stirrers.
• Water is bottled in tetra pack recyclable packaging.
• Guest amenities such as shower cap, wrapping and toothbrushes are biodegradable.
• Our cleaning products are supplied by Bio-Ferma, 100% Irish Made and eco-friendly which means they are planted based and chemical free.
• The entire hotel operates on LED lighting which saves many tonnes of CO2 energy.
• Cardboard packaging, glass, cans, used light bulbs and batteries are all recycle, we are committed to further reducing waste to landfill.
• Paper usage within the hotel is continually monitored in our efforts to reduce and reuse.
• The culinary team are committed to sourcing food from local producers.
• We send e-invoices to reduce the amount of paper.
• We do not sell any plastic bottles of soft drinks or water saving circa 20,000 plastic bottles being sold per annum.
• We continuously make efforts to get our suppliers to remove packaging and take it back with them.
• The lighting in our meeting rooms is produced by energy-efficient bulbs.
• Our air-handling units are eco-friendly and only used when required to reduce electricity consumption.
• We ensure lights are turned off in our meeting rooms when they are not in use.
• We e-mail quotations and contracts instead of printing.
• All glass beverage bottles are returned or recycled
• We now offer the Ashe Hotel still water in cartons.
• We promote sustainable transport and encourage use of public transport and shuttle bus to Tralee. We are ideally located minutes from main public transport hub.
• Aerators have been installed on all bedroom taps to reduce water wastage
• Sensor lighting has been fitted to our corridors reducing our electricity wattage
• We provide our coffee grinds to our customers free of charge for use as garden fertiliser.

A Sustainable Stay

As a guest of The Ashe Hotel we ask you to consider your environmental impact during your stay. Please consider using public transport, reduce your use of single use plastic, opt out of daily room servicing.

Our Carbon Footprint Reduction Results

In 2023, The Ashe Hotel has reduced our landfill waste by 15% per person, we have reduced our electricity usage by 8.6% per person and food waste reduction of 11% per person.