Four Seasons hotel does its bit for the environment

The kale and other vegetables used in this kitchen are organic and surprisingly come from the hotel’s rooftop garden, set up as part of its environment-protection programme.

Not only does the lush vegetable garden provide a year-long supply of chillies, papaya, aubergine, lime, lemon balm, sweet basil and other herbs, it keeps the hotel cool, cutting down on energy consumption.

Tanu Pumprakobsri, the hotel’s senior director of engineering, said this was a small contribution towards cutting down on global warming. He said the hotel management was looking for sustainable ways of cutting down on water and power consumption.

"Some of the projects were designed by me. They are simple ways of maximising on the resources we have. Perhaps our hotel is one of the few operators in the hospitality industry that try to make the environment one of their top priorities,"’ he said.

He explained that all taps in the hotel had a special valve that reduced the volume of water but maintained the pressure. Water used by guests is also recycled and used to irrigate the garden. With these water-saving schemes, the hotel saves up to Bt2,250 every day in water bills, he said.

Similarly, the hotel found ways of controlling energy consumption, especially in terms of lighting and air-conditioning systems, and is now able to reduce its energy bill by Bt17,500 per day.

Practically nothing is thrown away at the hotel. Dead leaves and plants are composted to use as fertiliser for the rooftop vegetable farm as well as the bougainvillaea bushes, while food leftovers are used to feed catfish, which are later released in the river.

The laundry department uses chemical-free detergent, while the interior decorators have chosen to keep the floor space free of carpeting, because not only are wooden floors cool to the touch, they are easy to clean.

The management also prefers to use drinking water contained in glass bottles instead of plastic to control the garbage, while the housekeeping staff turn torn sheets into hand towels and torn towels into cleaning rags.

Apart from hotel staff, the management is also educating their families about the importance of caring for the environment by organising special activities. It has also set up a committee for people from different departments to share ideas on implementing practical programmes.

"Since the hotel industry consumes a lot of energy, it is therefore essential for us to give back to society. Even if they are little things, at least we are doing our bit to save the world," Tanu said.