Imagine finally checking into your hotel after a long day of flights, layovers, ridesharing services and subway rides, making your way to your room, and discovering the traditional mini-toiletries have been replaced with massive bulk toiletries.
This bleak vision will be the reality beginning in 2021 in all InterContinental Hotels Group properties. The group announced early last week that the miniature toiletries hotel guests around the world have come to recognize will be removed from IHG properties as part of the brand’s sustainability efforts.
The move will replace miniature soaps and shampoos with larger bulk items in 843,000 guestrooms worldwide. The move will help to reduce the plastic waste IHG creates every year.
“It’s more important than ever that companies challenge themselves to operate responsibly, we know it’s what our guests, owners, colleagues, investors and suppliers rightly expect. Switching to larger-size amenities across more than 5,600 hotels around the world is a big step in the right direction and will allow us to significantly reduce our waste footprint and environmental impact as we make the change,” said Keith Barr, CEO, IHG.
Already, about one-third of the global IHG properties have made the transition to bulk amenities. Right now, the brand uses about 200 million miniatures each year.
This change is the most recent, but is far from the first steps the brand has taken toward sustainability. Last October, the brand announced the end of single-use plastic straws by the end of 2019. One of the organization’s brands, voco Hotels, was created with sustainability in mind.
The new initiative follows IHG’s long-established IHG Green Engage. The online sustainability program suggests ways for the brand to increase sustainability in an ongoing fashion.
Are you sad to see the mini-toiletries go at IHG properties? Will you miss packing the soaps and shampoos up at the end of your trip? Tell us. Email us at letters@globaltravelerusa.com. Please include your full name and location.
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