For sustainability: The Hong Kong hotel with a conscience
Jun 06, 2018
We’ve been huge fans of The Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong’s free water dispenser in the guest lobby—where we regularly top up our reusable bottles whenever we’re in Central. The hotel is taking its on-going commitment to sustainability – they replaced plastic straws with bamboo since 2016 – to the next level with the implementation of an in-house filtered water system and a Living Well Partnership to help guide Hong Kong and global travelers on how to live more sustainably.
“Current use of plastic is simply not sustainable,” says Archie Keswick, general manager of the hotel. “5.2 million plastic bottles are disposed of in Hong Kong daily. Green Earth estimates that is more than enough to fill two Olympic-sized swimming pools. We were using over 500 bottles a day and knew the best way to stop that was by collaborating with Nordaq FRESH.”
In collaboration with the Hong Kong Adventist Hospital Foundation’s Healthy Lifestyle Fund, The Landmark Mandarin Oriental has also launched a Living Well Partnership focused on raising awareness and funds for four key areas: health and well-being, clean water and sanitation, responsible production and consumption and reducing hunger. The Healthy Lifestyle Fund works with local charities J Life Foundation and Chicken Soup Foundation to provide wellness programmes for those in need, including nutritious vegetarian meal boxes for the poor, healthy lunches for underprivileged schools and workshops which offer them the knowledge they need to live better on a sparse budget.
As part of this initiative, The Landmark Mandarin Oriental is slowly replacing all plastic bottles with water bottled on-site. Nordaq FRESH’s patented filter system purifies the water to the highest standards, eliminating the need for single-use bottles and the import of bottled mineral water from Europe. The freshly filtered and purified water, available as ‘still’ or ‘sparkling’, is served in reusable glass bottles in guestrooms and suites as well as in Amber, MO Bar, PDT and The Oriental Spa starting this month. What’s just as exciting is the soon-to-be-unveiled rooftop garden created with Rooftop Republic, which will provide Amber with fresh herbs, vegetables and flowers.
The hotel will encourage guests to embrace a more eco-conscious lifestyle with a ‘Grab & GO’ BPA free impact-resistant bottle with a LMO Bag (HK$120) and a bespoke Swell stainless steel bottle, available in two sizes (HK$128 for 375ml and HK$148 for 500ml), to purchase in all guestrooms and suites as well as stocking each room with an eco-friendly wheat toothbrush and sustainably sourced chemical-free bathroom amenities from Cochine Saigon.
Local jewelery brand niin jewellery have also created a Hope bracelet in pink and black (HK$350) decorated with an inspiring message that can be purchased at The Oriental Spa, along with their other eco-friendly creations, and online via www.niinstyle.com and www.hkahf.org.hk/livingwell. Guests will also have the option to add 1% to their hotel bill to support the Healthy Lifestyle Fund.
We can only hope that more hotels, restaurants and companies in Hong Kong will follow their lead in offering more sustainable choices and alternatives so we can do our part for the environment.