St Michael's Green Journey
Stage 5 - Waste, Packaging and Recycling
One of the easiest ways that we can all save energy, reduce our own emissions and guard against valuable resource depletion is by recycling. This is one of the most important steps that St Michaels have taken, but is one that needs to be introduced in a manner that does not disrupt the day to day running of the hotel and will not detract from the unique ambiance that adds to the holiday experience. In all departments of the hotel we have begun to assess what waste we produce and how best to deal with it. On top of the glass and cardboard that we have been separating for some time, we are now recycling all our paper, tin and plastic. Additionally we are monitoring the levels of waste we are sending to landfill so that we can gauge the success of this implementation. The recent installation of a compactor allowed us to further reduce the waste volume, thus reducing the number of refuse and recycling collections that we require.
You will soon notice the presence of paper recycling facilities in the corridors. This is the second stage of our waste management strategy. When we feel we are managing this correctly we will begin to research the most practical methods for adopting an in room recycling facilities. Naturally this needs to be done unobtrusively, ensuring that you maintain that holiday feeling. In the mean time, if you would like to still be involved in the beginning stages of the recycling program please feel free to deposit any newspapers, clean bottles or tin with our reception team.
Why Should We Recycle?
• Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours -- or the equivalent of two litre’s of petrol
• An aluminum can that is thrown away will still be a can 500 years from now.
• To produce each week's Sunday newspapers, 500,000 trees must be cut down.
• If all our newspaper was recycled, we could save about 250,000,000 trees each year.
• During World War II when raw materials were scarce, 33% of all paper was recycled. After the war, this number decreased sharply.
• Each ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, one cubic metre of landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy, and 7000 gallons of water. This represents a 64% energy savings, a 58% water savings, and 60 pounds less of air pollution!
• These 17 trees saved (above) can absorb a total of 250 pounds of carbon dioxide from the air each year. Burning that same ton of paper would create 1500 pounds of carbon dioxide.
• Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator.
• A modern glass bottle would take 4000 years or more to decompose -- and even longer if it's in the landfill
