Eco-friendly hotels: Spa Hotel Parigi 2 cooperates with Orio Team Srl

"Destruction is the will of a man, But prevention is also a man's will. A man's choice is between destruction and prevention." Rajan Babu, Indian photographer

Ms Graziella, what does the term 'eco-friendly hotel' mean to you?

The concept of 'eco-friendly hotel' has arisen in recent years in light of the changes our planet has undergone. I am convinced that nowadays we have to make ourselves even more responsible for the choices we make, especially in the workplace where factors and dynamics relating to totally different environments and people come into play. Climate change is real and is happening at a much faster pace than we had perhaps anticipated. And the same is true for water and air contamination levels, which have recently experienced new forms of propagation and spread.

I firmly believe that a hotel business must be aware of how the environment responds to tourist flows and it must take into account the impact its facility may have on the locality in which it is located. This is because a hotel is first and foremost about people. People want and need to know how their actions affect the environment around them, even when they move around. And this is where the whole philosophy of eco-friendly hotels comes from.

How does what happens in the world on a daily basis, on an environmental level, relate to your hotel reality?

I think it is important to raise this kind of awareness, otherwise the risk is that people will remember the environment only when it comes to talking about recycling and household rubbishor at best, when you see some environmental campaign on television. Any working environment should take a solid and well-argued position on this issue.

So what is Spa Hotel Parigi 2 doing to protect the environment and avoid unnecessary waste?

I think it was a good choice to turn our linen service to theOrio Team Srl, our official supplier and an important eco-friendly industrial laundry in the Bergamo area. To have fresh, clean linen in one's guests' room, while at the same time taking into account current environmental regulations, is by no means taken for granted.

In what sense is it not obvious?

Many countries nowadays, and, sadly, I now also notice many hotels and hotel establishments, rely on wasteful and lax companies and corporations to keep costs down and perhaps have less bureaucratic work to deal with. Obviously, this is the opposite attitude of eco-friendly hotels. Our decision to turn to Orio Team   was born from the idea of focusing on a supplier that has made a name for itself in the textile washing sector thanks to the innovation of its machinery, to careful control of CO2 emissions and energyand compliance with current laws with regard to detergents that would be preferable to use to reduce environmental impact.

Does the linen used in the hotel rooms therefore enjoy any certification?

Of course. I would like to emphasise with pleasure that our underwear is "microbiologically guaranteed" according to the European standard UNI EN 14065.

This is an investment we have made with the guest and the environment in mind. In doing so, we strictly comply with a number of European directives such as:

• environmental impact due to laundry treatment (less water wastage and pollution due to the treatment it undergoes before being discharged into the sewerage system)
• proximity of the supplier (only 2 km away)
• company parameters of the supplier who is also equipped with the certifications "ISO 9001 Quality Management" e "ISO 140001 Environmental Management", which are an integral part of the development plan proposed by the European Commission called "Europe 2020".

Do you think the modern traveller, today's tourist, pays attention to green choices when it comes to booking a hotel?

I suppose not everyone is aware of the amount of water used for simply washing sheets, towels and bath towels. Such a seemingly simple action, if one only looks at the tip of the iceberg. We live in a world that seems to be less and less aware of time and effort necessary for any kind of gesture. We go to the supermarket and it seems normal and obvious to us to find a potentially infinite variety of products; all neatly stored, all neatly catalogued and reordered, just ready to be bought. We do not ask ourselves where they come from or how they arrived on the shelf, how many people it took for our act of buying to become a reality and then gradually convert into habit. The same happens with the services that a hotel proposes to offer its guests.

One last question: in your opinion, is it possible to make tourists more aware and how?

It is possible and it is necessary! I think it is really essential to remind people the consequences of our actions. We must realise the quality of what we possess and understand the relationship between man and the environment. Some of the guests are already aware of this, others are looking for someone to help them get better informed. We have noticed, however, that they all evaluate positively a green stance and a good balance between travel experience and environmental impact. We strive to raise this awareness and our guests seem to fully support our choices.