Sustainability at Harvey's Point

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

We are delighted to be members of the Fifty Shades Greener Program - Fifty Shades Greener is The world's leading sustainability company providing education, certification and consultancy to businesses, tourism destinations, governments and educational providers.

As an industry leader, we believe that building a culture around sustainability is our prime duty. The dedicated Harvey’s Point ‘Green Team’ is working tirelessly to improve our environmental practices including energy, single-use plastic and water usage. It means that we are measuring water, energy and waste usage on a monthly basis and trying to reduce consumption, where possible. We were delighted to achieve a Silver Level Award in October 2022 and in May 2023 we were awarded the Gold Level Award. It is a journey,  a journey that we are excited to be part of. In 2023, we are focusing on building staff awareness around sustainability. Also, after a careful business practices review, the following actions were taken:

WATER

·         New aerators were applied to ensure correct water flow in problematic taps

·         Shower heads have been changed to be more efficient in line with reducing water flow

·         Our Night team are carrying monthly water checks, to ensure that we have no underground leaks

·         We have upgraded our in-house water treatment plant, this was completed in early 2023

·         We encourage our guests to reuse their towels during their stay to help us conserve water

.We have moved away from using plastic water bottles and now use tetra water cartons

ENERGY

·         All our bulbs have been replaced with LED bulbs, LED lights use about 50 per cent less electricity than traditional incandescent, fluorescent and halogen options, resulting in substantial energy cost savings

·         Our kitchen equipment was replaced with energy-efficient appliances, our appliances are less energy-intensive to reduce the amount of electricity used per product

·         Light sensors are applied in all less-usage areas, to reduce energy usage

·         All fridges were serviced to ensure no air leaks

·         We have reviewed our heating system, to maximise efficiency

·         We have three new EV car charging points for our guests to use

WASTE

·         We have implemented a suitable segregation system across our hotel, including our guest bedrooms.

·         We are currently removing all single-use items in food & beverage outlets such as sugar sachets, jam jars, ketchup and mayo jars etc.

·         Reusable branded Harvey’s Point bottles for water were distributed to all team members, to avoid using single-use bottles.

·         Cardboard packaging, glass, cans, and plastics are all recycled

 

 NATURE

·         We have created a herb and vegetable garden where chefs and staff can help themselves to fresh produce.

·         To support our local community, we do “The Big Spring Clean” around our local area. Making sure that our location is litter free

                         Donegal Town has been selected as one of six pilots nationally to promote sustainable and eco-friendly practices in the town and we are delighted to have two team members join this initiative. 

 

It is a long-term journey; our efforts will continue in 2023. Our main goals for next year are:

-          Continue to replace our kitchen equipment with energy-saving equipment.

-          Continue to work on Green Purchasing Plan in line with sustainability principles  

-          Continue to review all products and replace them with more eco-friendly solutions i.e., coasters, bin bags, briquettes. It will reduce the non-green products from 18% to 5%.

-          Continue to work on food waste reduction.

-          Review non-green products in the kitchen operations and reduce it from 18% to 6%  

-          Continue to review our Food & Beverage suppliers and increase the local source from 23% to 30% in 2024.

-          We are currently working on removing single-use plastics from all rooms and have moved to reusable plastics across the hotel.

-          We are continuing to eliminate all unnecessary plastic packaging in Food & Beverage outlets.

-          We will be installing new aerators into bedroom taps to reduce water usage

-          The review of the implementation of the Bike to Work Scheme to promote more sustainable transport options for staff.

 

We are at a unique stage in our history. Never before have we had such an awareness of what we are doing to the planet, and never before have we had the power to do something about that. Surely we all have a responsibility to care for our Blue Planet. The future of humanity and indeed, all life on earth, now depends on us.” – David Attenborough