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If sustainability feels like a hot topic in hospitality right now, you’re not imagining it. Between your guests, employees (yes, they want to work in green spaces, too!), and even government demanding action, it’s like the whole industry is being pushed towards the same goal: a more sustainable future.
At Trail, we’ve seen firsthand how these pressures are reshaping hospitality and with our digital checklists, we help turn sustainability from a big challenge into an easy daily routine that cuts energy waste, drops the paperwork and keeps greener habits running without extra effort.
And so, in this article, we’ll be sharing practical ways on how to make a hotel more sustainable through small actions that add up to a big impact and show how Trail can help you deliver on sustainability goals without adding to the workload.
As we said at the beginning - because today’s guests expect it, your staff want it, the business demands it and soon, regulations may make it essential.
And let’s not forget the most important goal above them all – a contribution towards a greener future. At the end of the day, as a collective, we do have the responsibility to take action, so the question, then, isn’t why hotels should act, but how.
Though installing solar panels or carrying out major refurbishments may not immediately be within reach, there are plenty of smaller, daily actions you can take that will have a real impact.
Housekeeping switching off unused lights and reporting leaks, kitchen team properly disposing (or, ideally, reducing) waste, front desk encouraging digital check ins to cut paper use - think about how many of those small actions are happening in your hotel every single day. Then imagine if they were done consistently for a week, a month, a whole year - what kind of difference would that make?
These are the basics of hotel sustainability: the simple, everyday habits that save energy, reduce waste and show both guests and staff that your hotel takes its responsibility seriously.
If you’re wondering where to start, the answer is simple: start small - what matters is that you start at all and here are our tips for it.
1. Switch off lights and equipment when not in use
A study from London South Bank University found that when hotels introduced occupancy-based lighting controls, energy use in guest rooms dropped by 68%, and by 34% in public areas. Across the entire property, that meant a 7.6% cut in electricity use – all that just from everyday actions.
If you use digital checklists like Trail, our Energy Saving integration can help you make this a habit really quickly. Plus, automated alerts will flag high energy use, so your team can step in and take action straight away.
2. Track fridge and freezer temperatures
It only takes one broken seal or a slight dip in temperature for food to spoil, wasting stock, energy and money in the process. By tracking fridge and freezer readings regularly, your team can spot problems early and keep equipment running efficiently.
With Trail, it’s even easier: digital checklists prompt your staff to log temperatures at the right times, store the records automatically and flag anything out of range. The result? Less waste, safer food and equipment that runs as it should.
3. Make towels reuse the new norm
Reusing hotel towels actually does make a difference - some industry estimates suggest that laundry can account for around 16% of a hotel’s total water use. But cutting back on unnecessary washes doesn’t just save water - it reduces energy, detergent and wear on your linens too.
Now, how to communicate it with your guests? You’re probably familiar with approaches like a little card by the bathroom mirror or a polite reminder on the towel rail asking guests to consider reusing. But a study cited in Psychology Today found that a method ‘following the others’ worked even better.
In this experiment, when hotels told their guests that “most people reuse their towels,” guests were 26% more likely to do the same compared with those who only saw a generic environmental message. And when the message was made even more specific: “75% of guests in this room reused their towels”, reuse rates climbed by a further 10 percentage points.
4. Swap mini toiletries for refillable dispensers
It goes without saying that those tiny, single use toiletries like shampoo, shover gels and soaps are pretty terrible for the environment. According to the charitable initiative Clean Conscience, two hundred million of them are sent to the landfill by British hotels every year.
Across the EU, this problem is being tackled head on by a Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) coming into force 2030, prohibiting single-use cosmetics and suggesting switching to refillable dispensers.
In the UK, we’re not bound by these restrictions, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take the lead and switch to the greener option already.
Read more about Why you should have an effective restaurant cleaning schedule | Trail
5. Encourage water refill stations
Just like shifting away from mini toiletries, offering water refill stations lets your guests refill rather than buy single-use plastic bottles.
Three reasons why it matters:
6. Go local with suppliers
There are so many reasons to source your ingredients (where possible) locally – think fresh food that didn’t travel across the globe before landing on your plate, seasonal ingredients at their flavour peak, supporting your local farmers and communities and most importantly, meeting guests' expectations.
In a 2024 report, 65% of UK diners said they are most likely to visit a venue that highlights ingredients sourced from British farmers and 58% would even pay more for a dish that’s made of locally sourced ingredients.
It’s almost the simplest win of them all – lower emissions, happy guests and food that’s as traceable as it is tasty.
7. Save more water
Hotel water usage is substantial, with some studies suggesting a usage of around 1,500 litres per room per day. You obviously can’t control how much water each guest uses in their room, but there are steps your team can take to bring that number down.
8. Swap paper for digital
Paper might seem harmless, but the stacks of checklists, forms and reports used in hotels add up to a surprising amount of waste (and cost). Switching to digital tools eliminates paper use entirely, while also improving visibility and accountability.
It's way easier than having a ton of paper lying around. WE can see what's happening in our sites and that's invaluable.
Want to know more about the benefits of going digital? Read the blog here:
Why Shifting from Paper to Digital Checklists Can Save Your Business Time and Money | Trail
9. Reduce over-ordering with smart stock checks
It is estimated that around 10% food bought by restaurants never reaches the plates. Combined with other sources of waste in your kitchen, such as preparation waste (unavoidable) and customers leftovers (which you can control by adjusting portion sizes), you can avoid throwing away 10% of your profit by keeping a pulse on your stock.
10. Celebrate eco-wins
Patch yourself (and your team) on the back for every small and big change you’ve implemented.
Running a hospitality business with so many challenges nowadays can feel like a constant battle and it’s easy to overlook progress when all you do is focus on the next problem to solve.
Some of your actions will have instant results (like if you switch from mini toiletries to refillable options or swap paper checklists with the digital ones), some might take time, but that’s fine – sustainability isn’t a quick win in most of the cases and we’re all playing towards the same goal.
Greener habits are easier to build and keep if you have the right support in place. For your tech needs, here’s what will help making your hotel more sustainable:
Trail is your digital assistant for things that can slip through the cracks of everyday hotel life. Instead of relying on paper forms or memory, Trail makes sure it all gets done with tasks that are woven into your team’s working day, so everyone knows what to do and when to do it.
It can also send reminders and alerts if any issues occur, such as a sudden change in fridge temperature or energy use spikes.
Rear more about some of our integrations that can help with sustainability:
Procurement is one of the biggest hidden levers in hotel sustainability. Every order placed, from food and drink to packaging and cleaning products, has an impact on waste, costs and your carbon footprint. Getting it right consistently can be tough without the right tools.
Procure Wizard, (part of The Access Group alongside Trail) is a fully integrated purchase to pay solution, that ensures all P2P things are taken care of. Ordering, stock count, food waste management, menu management, calories, nutrition and invoice processing, it’s all in one place.
For sustainability, that means fewer duplicate orders, less overstocking and better visibility of where your supplies are coming from. It also makes it easier to prioritise local or eco-certified suppliers, helping you cut food miles and reduce packaging waste without adding admin.
In this article, we’ve looked at the practical ways hotels can embed sustainability into everyday operations- from reducing food waste and cutting laundry loads, to swapping out mini toiletries and celebrating eco-wins with your team.
And what we've tried to convey throughout is that sustainability doesn’t just come from head office strategies, but it happens in the daily actions of staff across every department.
If you’re curious to see how Trail can help you become greener, start a free, 14-days trial.
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