Eco-friendly hotels: strategies, tips and best practices

Key takeaways

• Sustainability drives profitability. Reducing energy, water and waste lowers operating costs while improving efficiency.
• Guests value environmental commitment. Eco-friendly practices strengthen brand perception and influence booking decisions.
• Small changes create meaningful impact. Digital processes, energy-efficient upgrades and waste reduction initiatives add up quickly.
• Technology makes sustainability scalable. Modern hospitality platforms streamline operations, reduce paper use and provide data to support smarter resource management.
• Going green builds long-term loyalty. A clear commitment to sustainability differentiates your hotel and supports sustainable growth.

An eco-friendly hotel is not just about greenwashing – i.e., making your hotel sound more appealing to attract more people – it's about a real commitment to the environment that’s necessary in order for the hospitality industry to take an active role in protecting the planet. It's a positive trend that is here to stay, and there’s no time like the present to get involved.

But what exactly is an eco-friendly hotel and how can you make your hotel more sustainable? Keep reading to find out more.

What is an eco-friendly hotel?

An eco-friendly hotel is a hotel that’s committed to reducing its carbon footprint, which it does by implementing a series of sustainable actions such as installing solar panels, reducing waste, utilizing an efficient hotel management system, favoring cleaning products that are non-toxic and biodegradable, and reducing both energy and water consumption.

They also take care of their footprint by buying products that are produced locally to avoid excessive carbon emissions, retrofitting their facilities for use of alternative energy and reusing gray water for watering plants. 

13 ways your hotel can be more eco-friendly

As people become more and more conscious about the environment, it's important to know what actions you can take to run an eco-friendly hotel business. And if you’re starting an eco-friendly hotel from scratch, knowing where to start makes all the difference.

1. Give back to your community

Giving back to the community is an important part of being sustainable. Supporting the local community, whether that's buying produce from local farmers or working with local artisans to create eco-friendly soaps and amenities, helps reduce your environmental impact by taking away your reliance on industrial production, which is responsible for a lot of greenhouse emissions every year.

You can also hire locals or support visits to local communities so that tourists directly invest in the economy instead of in generic mass-produced goods. The circular economy is key to fomenting a sustainable tourism model.

2. Reduce waste created in the check-in process

Eco-friendly hotels should care about reducing waste during every step of the guest journey. That means creating a seamless digital journey that creates no paper or waste with the help of mobile check-in and a check-in kiosk. Instead of cutting new keys every time, you can use technology to create digital entry into rooms with keyless entry.

3. Offer reusable water bottles

As the famous saying goes, “reduce, reuse and recycle.” Reusable water bottles are a great example of reusing. Not only is providing guests with reusable bottles more environmentally friendly, but it’s also a great marketing tool once guests leave your property, as every time they use their water bottles, they will be inadvertently promoting your hotel.

4. Consider going smart

Smart rooms are not only good for increasing guest satisfaction, but they are also great for the environment. You can install smart energy management systems in your rooms that have climate control and automatically shut off when the room is unoccupied. They also allow you to control electricity and water use more easily and efficiently.

5. Implement recycling

This may seem like an easy solution, but the hospitality industry is one of the industries that produces the most waste. Recycling is often not provided in the rooms or within the facilities, so make sure to provide in-room recycling options as well as various stations around your hotel. Within your restaurant, make sure your staff is recycling correctly, and encourage composting of food waste.

6. Rely on renewable energy

Why not install solar panels to reduce your hotel's reliance on the grid, or rely on alternative energy sources and companies? You can even reduce air-conditioning and heating use by installing radiant floors that more efficiently heat from the ground up, or install trees around the property that create shade, cooling the building naturally.

7. Install LED lights and motion sensors

Use LED lights, which are even better than energy-efficient bulbs because they last longer and have to be replaced less often.

Instead of keeping the lights on all the time around the hotel, you can install motion sensors that turn the lights on when movement is detected. This will cut your electricity costs and at the same time, help save on unnecessary energy waste.

8. Implement composting

With the hospitality and food industries creating lots of food waste, there's no better way to go eco than creating a compost with the food scraps. You can then use this compost to give nutrient-rich soil to your plants, which is an amazing full-circle and great for waste reduction. You can even plant a garden as well and use the compost as fertilizer.

9. Get rid of single-use plastic

Amenities are often individual, small, one-time plastic bottles that are thrown away after one use. Why not have attractive soap and shampoo dispensers that can be refilled, reducing plastic consumption and waste?

10. Use gray water or rainwater when possible

Use gray water and rainwater to water plants, flush toilets, and for any water use that doesn't require drinking water. There are also some systems available that allow you to isolate the energy from the hot water from showers and reuse it. With much of the world in a drought, this is one of the most eco-friendly decisions you can make.

11. Educate your staff

It may not necessarily be an eco-friendly idea, but it is actually the eco-friendliest idea of all. Not everyone is raised to be conscious about the environment, so it's important to work sensibility around the topic into your training schedule.

Upskill your staff on ways they can contribute to making your hotel greener, and have them be active participants in the process. They will be more committed and the whole process of going green will be more effective and lasting.

12. Incentivize alternate means of transportation

Incentivize alternative transportation for both guests and employees. For guests, consider installing electric car chargers, providing bike parking or running a shuttle with regular airport pick-up times. For employees, you could offer tax-free rewards to those who use public transportation.

13. Replace towels and bed linens less frequently for long stays

Hotels for a long time have implemented the rule where guests who don’t want their towels replaced can hang them, and those they want replaced can be left on the floor. But what about if you implemented the same for bed linens? Normally, bed linens need to be replaced every few days, but with the consent of guests you can go a few days longer and save on water usage.

Build an eco-friendly hotel

Sustainability isn’t just a branding exercise - it’s an operational advantage. By reducing waste, automating workflows and improving energy and resource efficiency, you can lower costs, minimize environmental impact and deliver the modern guest experience today’s travelers expect.

With Mews, sustainability becomes scalable. From paperless guest journeys to streamlined housekeeping and real-time performance insights, Mews helps you operate smarter while supporting your environmental goals - all within one connected hospitality operating system.

Ready to run a more efficient, eco-friendly hotel? Get a demo to see how Mews can help you drive sustainable growth.

Your guide to going green

Sustainability should be at the heart of your property's operations, but it can be hard to know where to start. The Green Hotel of the Future will tell you how.

Our guide will help you become more eco-conscious with practical advice and inspiration, which in turn should also help you cut costs.

Get the guide