Environment

The 4* Limerick Strand Hotel recognises that our business has an important role to play in protecting and enhancing the environment for future generations and to help secure the long-term sustainability of the tourism industry. It is our priority to encourage our customers, suppliers and all business associates to do the same.

At the Limerick Strand Hotel we take the potential negative effects on the environment that the activities of our business can cause very seriously. In line with this, we will continually strive to improve our environmental practices in a range of areas including energy and water usage.

We have three standard electric charging stations in our hotel carpark, in the basement. We have partnered with Easy Go to provide hotel guests with access to chargers while staying at the hotel. Hotel guests who wish to avail of car charging are required to download the “Easygo” app. Please see the link for instructions on how to setup a Prepay or Pay as you Go account to use these chargers as they are a pay-per-use service.

The Limerick Strand Hotel is committed to reducing its environmental impact through better efficiencies in the use of energy and the minimisation of waste, packaging and water usage.

Housekeeping

Handmade Soap Company- This is the soap and a moisturizer product we use in public area bathrooms, suites and exec rooms. This company upcycled an old mill in the village they are from in Ireland and recommissioned the hydroelectric turbine which now powers the whole operation in the plant. All plastic bottles used are recyclable and are refilled by our housekeeping department once empty saving plastic waste.

Recycling

The hotel has a waste diversion rate of 80% from landfill as it stands. We are hoping to reach the 85% mark on this before 2023. Each guest bedroom has recycling cards that encourage and show guests how to recycle in their bedrooms. All management and staff of each department are trained on recycling and are encouraged to practice this on a day-to-day basis. We have a green team that holds meetings monthly.

Bedrooms

We have environment-friendly cards in our bedrooms which explain and give guests the option to re-use towels and bed linen by following simple steps. When we refurbish bedrooms or make changes our used furniture is given to charity.

Bar and Restaurant

Biodegradable cups- The food and Beverage department in the hotel use a bio-degradable take away cup which can be composted while the lid can be recycled. Meeting rooms do not use plastic bottles however instead use large reusable glass water bottles for meetings. Biodegradable straws are now used in all our bars rather than plastic straws.

Conference and Banqueting

Lighting – The hotel uses sensor lighting in most of its meeting rooms which saves energy as they turn off right after customers leave rather than when noticed by a staff member. The hotel has invested in new sensor lighting for all stairwells which turn on one by one once as a person reaches the next light. The hotel has LED lighting in all bedroom corridors. Meetings are all given large reusable glass water bottles instead of plastic bottles.

Kitchen

Kitchen Oil- Used kitchen oil is collected by Frylite at the same time the new oil is being delivered. Used oil containers are cleaned and reused repeatedly, minimizing plastic waste in the environment. The used cooking oil is taken to one of their three processing sites which are located in Strabane, Co. Tyrone. Once there, the oil is de-packed, heated, cleaned and filtered and then sent to a biodiesel plant for recycling.

Local Produce – Our Executive Chef Patrick Anslow sources his meat, fruit and vegetables and dairy from over 40 local suppliers which help reduce our carbon footprint and it also sustains our local economy. Given the fact we use local suppliers, we return their egg trays, egg boxes, and honey frames to be reused again.

Electric Car Chargers

EV Charging stations are available in the onsite car park provided by Easy Go.  We are committed to actively improving our sustainability goals & policies.  Installation of the Ev charging stations aligns with our aim to reduce the hotel’s carbon footprint. To use the stations, simply download the app in the link above and sign up to Easy Go.

Eco Steam and Shine

Eco steam and shine is a service provided to our guests for all car cleaning and detailing needs. This business is located onsite in our car park. The owner has invested in a steam cleaner machine which on average only uses 1 gallon of water per car wash limiting the consumption and waste of water.

Energy Consumption

Energy walk- each duty manager whilst on shift whether that is early, late or night will at some point carry out an energy walk which includes powering off unused computers, switching off lights that are not needed, switching off sockets that are not been used in general scoping areas in order to reduce energy levels.

CHP Unit

The hotel has a CHP (Combined Heat and Power) unit which uses heat energy generated by the engine to heat the hotel and water, it also generates electricity which means less electricity is taken from the grid. The CHP uses fuel, but in return gives energy (heat & electricity) back. This has reduced energy costs in the hotel over the past years.

Reception

Book Stand- We have a book stand at reception which guests and customers can use to leave old books and take new ones.
For frequently printed reports we recycle used paper.
Paper Shredder- We have two paper shredders in the building which help recycle paper easier. This in turn reduces the damages and cost of paper production

Energize

Energize have recently changed from traditional florescent lighting which now consists of approximately 90% LED lighting in the pool and gym area.
Energize hopes to upcycle it’s OZONE machine which kills harmful bacteria through UV lamps saving chlorine usage.

 Accounts

Procure Wizard means that we are no longer printing on average 300 invoices per month as they are all just uploaded from PW to TAS – saving of almost 4000 sheets of paper per annum. We send end out all remittance advices by e-mail and pay suppliers by EFT – saving on paper and the carbon footprint of postage. We E-mail out invoices to debtors and send statements out by e-mail too. All payslips are distributed via e-mail and no longer need to be printed. Print reports to PDF rather than to the printer

 IT Department

Rather than using separate servers for each system we have now incorporated one unit containing multiple virtual servers which run all systems and save energy. All our ink toners are returned to the supplier for recycling. BMS (Building Management System) – This allows appropriate management control of the air handling units within the hotel and these can be set to heat or cool a certain area for a set period of time preventing energy loss. The hotel has shutdown policy that all departments have to follow that involves powering off your workstation and office before departing work or when not in use for long periods.

Marketing 

We use web-based marketing activities as much as possible and have a strict policy of not using mailshots. We keep in contact with regular customers through the use of e-zines. Recycled paper and card are used in the printing of brochures and leaflets. All hotel brochures are available as a download on our website rather than printing

We are constantly striving to improve Sustainability & Conservation at the hotel. By the end of 2023 in addition of the above Green Initiatives we shall have completed the following:

Recycling – The hotel has a waste diversion rate of 80% from landfill as it stands. We are hoping to reach the 85% mark on this for 2023.

In the coming months transfer over from plastic laundry bags to paper laundry bags.

Energize hopes to upcycle our currently out-of-use OZONE machine which kills harmful bacteria through UV lamp-saving chlorine usage.

The hotel would like to introduce shutdown policy which will all departments would have to follow that involves powering off your workstation and office before departing work or when not in use for long periods.

In 2022 we introduced electric car charging points in our car park in support of Limerick’s and Ireland’s efforts in reducing pollution.

We are now hoping to move away from aluminum takeaway containers and instead use biodegradable ones.

The hotel would like to introduce a shutdown policy which will all departments would have to follow that involves powering off your workstation and office before departing work or when not in use for long periods.

We have applied to be recognised as a Fairtrade Workplace as all our Tea and Coffee offerings are Fairtrade products.