Pulse August 2020 | Page 62

IT’S EASY BEING GREEN PRACTICAL TIPS TO LIVE MORE SUSTAINABLY BEING AN ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS, SUSTAINABLE OR EVEN A REGENERATIVE BUSINESS isn’t optional anymore—it’s essential to compete for environmentally savvy spa-goers in a crowded marketplace. Each month, Pulse will offer tips and fun facts on going green. For August, we’re featuring tips from Noel Asmar of Noel Asmar Uniforms and the Hospitality Lifecycle Initiative about how to become more involved with recycling initiatives in your community. Here’s what she had to say: IT SEEMS THAT COVID-19 HAS ACCELERATED CHANGE in every area of our lives, both at work and at home. Because of that, there’s never been a better time than now to discover ways to give back locally, increase your community’s sustainability or help activate an environmental initiative that you are passionate about personally or professionally. Here are a few of my ideas for sustainability initiatives that you can support at work or at home: 1. PICK UP LITTER: Picking up litter is a simple, effective way to beautify your community and make a positive mark on the planet’s health. Consider participating in an Adopt-a-Highway program as a business. Each U.S. state has its own Adopt-a-Highway program, so you can contact your state’s department of transportation to learn more. If you want to sponsor a highway but are unable to personally pick up litter, there are organizations that will manage your highway section for you, such as Adopt A Highway Maintenance Corporation and Adopt A Highway Litter Removal Service of America, Inc., which has cleaned over 1,000,000 miles of U.S. highways & Interstates since 1989. 2. RECYCLE YOUR TEXTILES: Recycling paper and plastic is a fact-of-life now, but recycling textiles is a relatively new frontier. In 2019, we launched the Hospitality Lifecycle Initiative (HLC)to encourage spas and hotels to recycle uniforms, robes, towels and more to help divert millions of pounds of textiles away from landfills each year. To become involved or to learn more about how you can recycle at your property, visit noelasmaruniforms.com/pages/hospitality-lifecycle. Don’t forget that “reduce” and “reuse” are the first parts of “reduce, reuse, recycle.” Consider donating used textiles locally; this reduces the need for other organizations, such as local humane societies, to purchase brand new towels or linen. 3. PLANT A TREE: Planting a tree is the single most effective way to reduce carbon emissions from the atmosphere. Many cities have local organizations that plan “tree planting” days where you can volunteer to help plant trees in city parks. If you have a yard, you can also begin by planting trees there, of course. If you want to get your business involved in tree-planting initiatives, two reputable organizations that have had a significant worldwide impact and have well-established relationships with our industry are WeForest (weforest.org) and Trees for the Future (trees.org) n HAVE A QUICK, EASY TIP FOR SPAS LOOKING TO GO GREEN? An outside-the-box idea for reducing waste? An environmental fact that you think Pulse readers should know? Share them with us at [email protected] 50 PULSE ■ AUGUST 2020