Eco Friendly Business

Company: Kimpton Hotel Group
Company Headquarters: San Francisco, California
Industry: Hospitality — Hotels and Restaurants

Overview:
Kimpton Hotels is the parent company for a growing collection of upscale boutique – and very eco-friendly hotels. With its innovative programs, out-of-the-box thinking, and commitment to the environment, Kimpton has emerged as a leader in the green hotel industry in recent years.

Though they are a large corporation with properties all over North America, the green practices that they incorporate into their business model can be successfully duplicated by businesses and organizations of all sizes. Below you’ll find a list of 7 best practices that you can adapt to your own business and position yourself, like Kimpton, at the top of your industry as a green business.

Put Your Commitment in Writing
Kimpton Hotels have one of those “elevator pitch” mission statements to describe their environmental stance. It states:

“Support a sustainable world by using non-intrusive, high quality, eco-friendly products and services at all Kimpton hotels.”

It’s short, sweet, descriptive and can easily be said to someone in the few seconds it takes to travel between floors in an elevator.

Give Your Eco Program a Name
Another way to add more credibility to you environmental efforts is to give your program a name. Kimpton calls their environmentally friendly green hotel practices, the “Earthcare” program.

Like the mission statement, the name very succinctly states the corporate policy and carries with it the feeling that the company’s taking an organized, focused approach to preserving the environment and is already succeeding in its efforts.

Provide Your Own Green Business Certification
On its Earthcare page, Kimpton lists all of the things they do to be eco-friendly. These actions might not be enough to help them qualify for some green certifications, but anyone can see that they’re serious about their commitment to the environment.

This strategy also makes it easier for the media to write about them. Today Show travel editor Peter Greenburg reproduced the Kimpton list of Earthcare Products and Practices verbatim when he mentioned Kimpton Hotels in his article on green lodging.

Peter Greenburg’s Article: Eco-Friendly Travel: Hotels and the Green Bandwagon

Put Your Results in Real Numbers That People Can Understand
Advertising copywriters are taught to write about benefits, not features. In this video on the Sundance Channel, not only can Mike Depatie, the CEO and President of Kimpton Hotels, outline the company’s philosophy and detail all the changes the hotels have made, but he can also articulate the impact it’s having on the environment.

Here are just a few of the benefits that are mentioned in the video:

• "Hotel Triton recycles 60% of waste."
• "Their low flow toilets, shower heads and faucets save 15 – 30,000 gallons of water each year."
• "Their environmentally friendly cleaning products save 50,000 gallons of chemicals being dumped into the environment."
• " Their recycling efforts and use of recycled paper products have saved over 253 trees and eliminated 18,000 pounds of waste."

Reward Your Customers for Their Conservation Efforts
Kimpton Hotels offer discounts for guests arriving in a hybrid vehicle. The perks vary from saving 10% on the room rate at some properties, to saving as much as 50% off the overnight parking rate at others.

Gather Multiple Awards
As we stated in our article on obtaining a Green Business Certification for your small or medium-sized business, you should seek out "certification" from as many organizations as possible. Take one look at the Earthcare page, and you’ll see that Kimpton has done just that by gaining recognition, accreditation, and accolades from a variety of sources in government and in the lodging industry.

Here’s a list of the various organizations that have recognized Kimpton Hotels for their eco-friendly hotel practices.

Local and State Governments
The city of Salt Lake City, Utah.
San Francisco Green Business program
State of California
State of California EPA

National Trade Associations
Travel Industry and Association of America
American Hotel & Lodging Association

International Trade Associations
Hotel Association of Canada

State Trade Associations
Massachusetts Lodging Association

Media
National Geographic Traveler Magazine
USA Today
Travel and Leisure
Seattle Magazine
MSNBC
Sundance Channel, Ecobiz

Keep It Fresh
As stated in Kimpton’s Earthcare Commitment, they introduce new "products and practices" every three months. This allows Kimpton to take advantage of the latest trends and advancements which are on the minds of their customers. As an added benefit, it keeps them ahead of most of their competitors in the industry and gives the media a reason to devote space to them in the papers and over the airwaves. (See the next section.)

Alert the Media with Press Releases
After you’ve implemented your program, get the word out to the media in the form of news releases, then continue to do this each time you make a new change in your business. Are you switching to hybrid company cars or delivery vans? Send out a press release? Starting a recycling program? Send out a press release!

A perfect yearly opportunity to gain media recognition for your business and its green efforts is on Earth Day each April 22nd. Some Kimpton Hotels have taken advantage of this by partnering with local pedi-cab companies to offer free rides for their guests each Earth Day. Come up with a similar promotion and alert the media about it, but don’t wait until the last minute. Experts say that you should try to alert the press to upcoming news and events 4 – 6 weeks in advance.

The Bottom Line is… the bottom line!

By implementing these changes has saved money and gained valuable recognition and positive publicity that they otherwise would not have gotten. As for attracting new customers, a 2005 survey revealed that 16% of hotel guests choose their properties based on environmental practices. With rising energy costs, one can only assume that that number is climbing every year, which is good news for both Kimpton and the environment.