Water, Energy and Waste
We’ve been working on water, energy and waste reduction projects in Cyprus for a number of years. Read more about the our projects below:
- 2011 plastic reduction initiative in Paphos with Thomas Cook
- 2008 water and energy saving project
Plastic Reduction in Paphos and Agia Napa in 2011
Following the success of the pilot project carried out in 2010 we continued to work with Thomas Cook to reduce plastic consumption with 21 hotels in Paphos and Agia Napa in 2011 summer season.
The objective was to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated by participating hotels without reducing the quality of the guest experience.
A target of 10% reduction in plastic waste across participating hotels was selected based on the preliminary results from the 2010 project in Paphos.
You can read the full final report, download the project summary, or browse the summary of key results below:
- On average participating hotels saved 19% on the total number of plastic items from the previous season
- The project helped participating hotels save 27.5 tonnes of plastic, equivalent to just over the weight of 26 Toyota Yaris’s
- On average, each guest used 31% less plastic by weight than the same number of guests dis before they participated in the project
- Nearly 800,000 plastic bottles of water were saved from disposal in landfill
- The total number of plastic items saved = 2.2 million over a comparison period of only 4 to 5 months
- Over half of customer respondents felt more positive towards Thomas Cook
- 50% said that the plastic reduction initiative had a positive impact on their holiday
- 98% would like to see similar projects rolled out in other destinations.
Water & Energy Saving Project
Measuring water and energy consumption at a hotelIn 2008 a project was instigated by Cyprus Sustainable Tourism Initiative (CSTI), addressing the all-important issue of energy and water conservation. Water is a particular problem in Cyprus and in the summer of 2008 there was severe water rationing for residents.
CSTI worked with the Hotel Associations to engage the hotel industry and help implement simple changes which conserve energy and water.
The project began with sustainability audits in three hotels in Cyprus, Turkey and the Azores which helped shape the content of our Greener Accommodations tool. The tool encourages hoteliers across Europe to improve their operations and monitor the outcome.
We then brought in a project manager to work in partnership with 106 hotels to implement the tips on water and energy in our Sustainable Accommodations toolkit. As a result, 67 hotels achieved a 10% drop in water consumption – a saving of €160,000 over six months during the summer of 2008 – and a 1% reduction in energy used, another €239,000 saved! Have a closer look at the savings made in our results sheet and final report.