CONSIDER CLOTH A cheap way to reduce your environmental footprint is by switching to reusable cloth towels in bathrooms instead of paper towels. Same goes for tablecloths and napkins at a spa restaurant or café.“ Instead of using paper towels to dry off hands in the restrooms, we have rolled up washcloths for guests to use.”

SAVE MONEY OVER TIME

Disposable plastic items aren’ t just bad for the environment; they’ re also a repeated money sink. Investing in reusable items— glass water bottles, ceramic dishes— will help save the Earth while also saving you money over time. not much more expensive and are positioned and perceived as premium products, so your customers will appreciate your commitment to going green.

GET

LOW... LOW-FLOW

While low-flow toilets, sinks and showers have an upfront cost, they’ re still a relatively cheap way to reduce your spa’ s wastewater— and the reduced water usage will help the fixtures pay for themselves over time, to boot.

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT LED bulbs and energy-efficient cooling are great, but here’ s something that’ s more effective and cheaper: ensuring equipment is turned off when not in use. Setting your A / C setpoint just a degree or two higher can make a positive impact, and ensuring that lights are only on when they’ re needed is a budget-conscious way to improve sustainability.

DONATE UNWANTED

ITEMS It doesn’ t get much more budget-friendly than this. Reduce your waste by donating old linens, towels, robes and equipment to local charities, like homeless shelters and local humane societies.“ We donate our used linens, towels and bathrobes to a local animal shelter on a regular basis.”

BUY BIODEGRADABLE It’ s impossible to switch out every disposable product your spa uses for a reusable one. For those things that can only be used once, try to find a biodegradable equivalent. They’ re often

GROW

YOUR OWN If your business has a restaurant or café onsite, try growing your own organic produce. Your customers will love it and you’ ll reduce the amount of produce you purchase, which is often shipped from around the world. Double-down by composting your food waste and using it to fertilize your garden rather than store-bought fertilizer.

“ All organic waste in our cafe goes into our organic garden. The garden then gives back produce to the cafe.”

“ Conserve utilities during hours when the spa is closed by turning off non-essential equipment and keeping ambient temperature at average 76 degrees.”

GO PAPERLESS With modern day point-of-sale software and technology, it’ s more possible than ever to go paperless without paying an arm and a leg. The same goes for your menus; using tablets to display digital menus eliminates paper use and can have a high impact per dollar spent when it comes to sustainability.“ We’ ve moved our entire accounting department to a paperless system with a great deal of success.” n

for MorE idEas on how to save cash while going green, read ISPA’ s Environmental Sustainability Snapshot Surveys online at https:// experienceispa. com / resources / research.

October 2018 ■ PULSE 49