Ecomenities and Raine and Horne Snowy Mountains join forces to reduce single use plastics

In an Australian first, Ecomenities and Raine and Horne Snowy Mountains have joined forces in an effort to reduce single use plastic waste in holiday accommodation.  Raine and Horne manage dozens of short term holiday rentals in the Jindabyne and Thredbo area and are working closely with us in a bid to reduce toiletries waste to zero.  R&H Managing Director Toni Wheelhouse has been keen to stop using single use toiletries in the rental properties they manage for some time now, but has been unable to find a good alternative that provides guests with a high quality soap, looks great in the bathrooms and does not required drilling into the walls.

Toni came to Ecomenities having seen our products being used by local hotels and together we devised a way of managing soap use in short term rentals.  We came up with a simple system for recouping the toiletries costs by billing property owners on a per person per day rate when their property is booked. The initial cost of the dispenser is paid by the property owner. It’s a simple way to recover costs and will reduce costs to property owners over the longer term. Plus the green credentials of the rental properties goes up in a win for the environment.

The three bottle soap dispensers have been installed in several luxury properties in Thredbo, replacing hundreds of single use bottles per year with each bathroom installation.  The bulk soap containers are kept at the R&H offices and the soap bottles are refilled from there for the cleaners to swap over for empty ones when required.  Cleaning time is now quicker as there is no fiddling with mini guest soaps, no clutter in the bathrooms and much less waste to remove and process.

Toni Wheelhouse, Licensee at Raine and Horne is excited about the future and told us “Claire from Ecomenities designed a floorless product that has already proven to be a superior product to the “old” wasteful amenities that have been running in accommodation services for too long. We are so pleased with the switch to hopefully a more sustainable future, so we can continue to enjoy a unique Snowy Mountains in its pristine beauty. We hope to see more of our accommodation owners get on board and move forward with the no waste products to better our future.”

Feedback from property owners and guests has been completely positive. They love the local soap and are more than happy to see the back of single use mini soaps.

Marion Battishall, Environmental Liaison Officer at NPWS, is currently working with KNP tenants to reduce waste in their operations.

Marion told us “NPWS are committed to reducing waste at both local and state scales.  Local collaborative group, Sustainable Snowies, comprises NPWS, Ski Resorts, local council and Jindabyne Chamber of Commerce. Together we are working to address tourism generated litter, aiming to reduce waste in KNP and the region. Sustainable Snowies encourages businesses, such as Ecomenities, that aim to create zero waste products.”

At Ecomenities we are always keen to work with any accommodation providers and help them become waste free. If you would like to talk to us about making your place more sustainable, call us now to find out how we can help.