Being ‘green’ saves money for the Salish Lodge & Spa
April 13, 2011
By Laura Geggel
The results are in. After 10 months of changing to more energy-efficient lightbulbs, increasing its recycling program and holding bimonthly meetings with its green team members, the Snoqualmie Salish Lodge & Spa has saved thousands of dollars.
“This was an opportunity for us to give back to our environment,” said Salish General Manager John Murphy.
Last year, the Salish received a grant to “green” its services. Its staff focused on three aspects that affected the lodge daily.
Amity Lumper, a senior associate with the Cascadia Consulting Group, speaks at a luncheon outlining the steps the Salish Lodge and Spa has taken to ‘green’ itself. Contributed
First, staff switched most of the incandescent lightbulbs to either LED or fluorescent lighting, saving nearly $6,100 and 750,000 kilowatt hours annually.
Second, staff members developed a recycling program, buying recycling bins and training employees about recycling habits. Teaching people to unlearn old habits and exercise new ones took time, but now Salish staff are in step with the new program, Murphy said.
“It’s about changing motion,” he said. “It’s going to a different Dumpster, going to a different part of the loading dock.”
In addition to recycling paper, plastics and bottles, the lodge began composting food scraps in March, saving even more space in its trash containers — and therefore spending less money. Their efforts have paid off, saving the lodge more than $450 per month.
Salish administrators are hoping to expand the recycling program to its guests by putting recycling bins in every hotel room.
“We are trying to find something that goes with the look of the lodge,” Murphy said.
Third, the lodge formed the Salish Green Team, led by Front Office Manager Ben Olin and staffed with Salish employees from almost every department at the lodge. The team meets with staffing sections throughout the month, holding meetings about what is working and what could be improved.
“They’ve really tapped into both the leadership and the excitement that the staff have around initiatives,” Amity Lumper, a senior associate with Cascadia Consulting Group, said.
A poll of 40 Salish employees showed that 83 percent of them thought their awareness of green practices had strongly increased and 13 percent thought they had somewhat increased during the past six months.
The Salish’s green movement will continue to grow, time and money permitting. The Salish already has a towel-and-linens program allowing guests to leave towels on the floor if they want them washed daily, or hang them on a rack if they don’t mind reusing them.
The Salish is also calibrating its heating, ventilation and air conditioning units to turn off once a room reaches a specified temperature, instead of requiring a manual switch for each room.
Even the commodes will get a makeover. Administrators are planning to purchase low-flushing toilets to save water, Murphy said, adding that the Salish is working to earn its Energy Star Rating, a program for businesses run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
How the green got going
The lodge’s greening initiative is a project two years in the making. In 2009, the Washington State Department of Ecology awarded 13 Public Participation grants, giving one worth $53,000 to the Greening Washington’s Lodging Industry program. The program was so successful, the DOE increased the grant by $15,000 and the lodging industry has requested another grant for this year.
The lodging industry partnered with the Cascadia Consulting Group to pick two winners for its pilot program: Columbia Hospitality — the operator of the Salish Lodge & Spa — and the Spokane-based Best Western Peppertree Inns of Washington.
Both groups received free consulting from Cascadia. The process was long, but invigorating, Lumper said.
Using guidelines from the American Hotel and Lodging Association Green Guidelines, Columbia Hospitality staff ticked through the green things they could incorporate into the Salish. They spoke with the consultants monthly, keeping track of their progress and exchanging ideas.
Columbia Hospitality shared its findings at a luncheon March 7 at Bell Harbor International Conference Center in downtown Seattle. Other hoteliers approached the Salish team and peppered them with questions about how to be green, Murphy said.
More hotels are making the switch to greener practices, but many faced a setback with the recession and are just starting to open their budgets to environmental changes, Jan Simon, president and CEO of the Washington Lodging Association, said.
Some travel websites, like www.expedia.com, are starting to rate hotels for how many green services they offer.
“I think as we start to see travel picking up and when there is a little bit more consumer confidence, I think we’ll start seeing consumers requesting this more,” Simon said.
Laura Geggel: 392-6434, ext. 241, or lgeggel@isspress.com.
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