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Excessive one time plastic use
Just stayed in Hampton at Wichita Airport, Kansas. Breakfast only had plastic throw away cutlery. Laziness, wasteful and totally out of touch. Is this the norm stateside? |
Originally Posted by kingcole974
(Post 31119005)
Just stayed in Hampton at Wichita Airport, Kansas. Breakfast only had plastic throw away cutlery. Laziness, wasteful and totally out of touch. Is this the norm stateside? -James |
Calm down. Good grief. A commercial dishwasher costs $20k to $30k. Not to mention the detergent and water consumption. Oh yeah, that detergent gets discharged back to the water utility to remove from the effluent. Ongoing preventive and reactive maintenance are a significant expense, in addition to hiring someone to bus tables and wash dishes. Single use plastic-ware is the norm in lower-end properties like Hamptons. Hamptons are gracious enough to not even wrap the plastic-ware, think of all the refuse they’re saving! I stayed at a brand-independent Hilton property who’s sole focus during construction and operation was “minimizing impact”. Gravel parking lot, low flow shower heads, minimal exterior lighting, etc. Even here, room service came with plastic-ware. |
Clearly Hilton are to be applauded for not wrapping a plastic fork in plastic. Bravo! |
Originally Posted by aww3583
(Post 31119112)
Calm down. Good grief. A commercial dishwasher costs $20k to $30k. Not to mention the detergent and water consumption. Oh yeah, that detergent gets discharged back to the water utility to remove from the effluent. Ongoing preventive and reactive maintenance are a significant expense, in addition to hiring someone to bus tables and wash dishes. Single use plastic-ware is the norm in lower-end properties like Hamptons. Hamptons are gracious enough to not even wrap the plastic-ware, think of all the refuse they’re saving! I stayed at a brand-independent Hilton property who’s sole focus during construction and operation was “minimizing impact”. Gravel parking lot, low flow shower heads, minimal exterior lighting, etc. Even here, room service came with plastic-ware. The mountain of garbage generated by Hampton's laziness is a relic of the past. Consumers are more aware these days. I can't see them continuing this wasteful path much longer. |
Hampton has always been single-use in most properties in the States, unfortunately. As noted, this is almost certainly due to economic factors as it prevents Hampton properties from needing a full commercial kitchen (including dishwashing capabilities) as part of the build-out. If the properties were willing to contract to do commercial composting then this would open up some good compromise solutions (bio-plastic, bamboo, etc.).
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Originally Posted by arlflyer
(Post 31119267)
Hampton has always been single-use in most properties in the States, unfortunately. As noted, this is almost certainly due to economic factors as it prevents Hampton properties from needing a full commercial kitchen (including dishwashing capabilities) as part of the build-out. If the properties were willing to contract to do commercial composting then this would open up some good compromise solutions (bio-plastic, bamboo, etc.).
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The question of sustainability is an interesting one. I suspect most people on this forum's preconceptions of what is sustainable is fundamentally wrong. For instance, the use (and ideally reuse) of plastic bags is more environmentally friendly than using paper bags or even reusable totes. For instance, an organic cotton bag would need to be used 20,000 times before it is better for the environment than plastic bags [Source]. In addition, the use and consumption of plastic products is arguably better for the environment than the alternative: using those petrochemicals to fire up our cars and natural gas powered furnaces and electric plants!
To answer OPs question, yes the use of recyclable service items is a thin in the Americas be it with airlines or hotels. I recall coming back to Canada during XMAS and ordering a sandwich from Starbucks. When I requested a knife and a fork to cut my sandwich they gave me plastic ones. Needless to say, I went through 2 or 3 of them to enjoy the sandwich. Again, I just absolutely hate using the temporary cutlery be it on airplanes, in lounges or at hotels. Every time I cut a waffle I cut through the darn plate. I suspect most, if not all hotels have some sort of dishwasher. At the very least, they'll need to clean service items from the room such as mugs and glasses. Even if the rooms don't have service items, the bar and on-site restaurant most likely will! Also, not all dishwashers cost tens of thousands of dollars to install, service and use. A quick gander at the Home Depot shows a qwality dishwasher can be had for < $400. Safe Travels, James Safe Travels, James |
Originally Posted by Voodoo Daddy
(Post 31119461)
Hampton, Fairfield, Holiday In Express, and every other similar level hotel I have ever stayed at also has plastic single use utensils. So, yes. To answer the OP's question, it is absolutely the norm.
In Germany, Hamptons use real plates, read glasses, real coffee mugs, and real utensils. I suspect it comes down to the economics of waste disposal vs staff and equipment to clean. And laws. And societal norms. |
I laugh when I read westerners debating the pros and cons of cutlery vs the environment. The rest of the world uses their hands or wooden chopsticks which have negligible environmental effects.
Use your brain and create a sandwich from the options provided. You can always fit your breakfast between two slices of toast!! |
Originally Posted by j2simpso
(Post 31119531)
The question of sustainability is an interesting one. I suspect most people on this forum's preconceptions of what is sustainable is fundamentally wrong. For instance, the use (and ideally reuse) of plastic bags is more environmentally friendly than using paper bags or even reusable totes. For instance, an organic cotton bag would need to be used 20,000 times before it is better for the environment than plastic bags
1) Neglects other metrics of significance, such as economic loss due to littering, and impacts on wildlife populations (really the key driver of the plastic issue) 2) Likely assumes current-state economies of scale in production (cloth bags being more of a niche item than plastic; were they scaled up, the normalized impact would likely be lower) 3) Highly dependent upon generation mix of electricity used to produce 4) May or may not consider end-of-life impacts and salvage value/reuse Amongst others. The point just being that discussion of impact is not open-and-shut and there is no singular agreed-upon metric. Calculating life-cycle impact is something that the academic and policy communities have been debating for decades. Whether or not someone's perception of something is "fundamentally wrong" cannot be easily discerned, as there is no hard-and-fast basis upon which to make that determination. The valid point you absolutely have is that a holistic point of view is necessary. If an item is not used and disposed of in the designed manner (or optimal manner) then there absolutely can be unintended outcomes which negate any engineered benefits. |
Am I the only one who finds a debate over the environmental impact of plastic ware hysterical on a website routed in airplane mileage runs? For most on this site that fork is minuscule in the preventable impact waste #pickyourbattles
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Originally Posted by Lehava
(Post 31133919)
Am I the only one who finds a debate over the environmental impact of plastic ware hysterical on a website routed in airplane mileage runs? For most on this site that fork is minuscule in the preventable impact waste #pickyourbattles
Outside of carbon offsets we are a long way from a solution for planes but a solution to the Hampton inn trash mountain is readily available and already in use across the globe. |
Originally Posted by j2simpso
(Post 31119531)
The question of sustainability is an interesting one. I suspect most people on this forum's preconceptions of what is sustainable is fundamentally wrong. For instance, the use (and ideally reuse) of plastic bags is more environmentally friendly than using paper bags or even reusable totes. For instance, an organic cotton bag would need to be used 20,000 times before it is better for the environment than plastic bags [[url=https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/04/09/711181385/are-plastic-bag-bans-garbage?t=1558359917290]Source]. In addition, the use and consumption of plastic products is arguably better for the environment than the alternative: using those petrochemicals to fire up our cars and natural gas powered furnaces and electric plants!
To answer OPs question, yes the use of recyclable service items is a thin in the Americas be it with airlines or hotels. I recall coming back to Canada during XMAS and ordering a sandwich from Starbucks. When I requested a knife and a fork to cut my sandwich they gave me plastic ones. Needless to say, I went through 2 or 3 of them to enjoy the sandwich. Again, I just absolutely hate using the temporary cutlery be it on airplanes, in lounges or at hotels. Every time I cut a waffle I cut through the darn plate. I suspect most, if not all hotels have some sort of dishwasher. At the very least, they'll need to clean service items from the room such as mugs and glasses. Even if the rooms don't have service items, the bar and on-site restaurant most likely will! Also, not all dishwashers cost tens of thousands of dollars to install, service and use. A quick gander at the Home Depot shows a qwality dishwasher can be had for < $400. Safe Travels, James Safe Travels, James |
Originally Posted by ksucats
(Post 31134436)
Hamptons, Holiday Inn Expresses and Fairfield Inns do not have bars or on-site restaurants.
If the OP or anyone else feels strongly, simply stay at hotels that line up with your beliefs, rather than demand some hotels conform to your feelings. Problem solved. |
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