Last issue, Green Space talked about the importance of community, given the urgency surrounding climate issues and how personal limitations can often cause people to become disenfranchised and self-select out of sustainability. Ideally, you're now folded in the safety of your communities and teams. With that, it's time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Here are some good places to start:
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Last issue, Green Space talked about the importance of community, given the urgency surrounding climate issues and how personal limitations can often cause people to become disenfranchised and self-select out of sustainability. Ideally, you're now folded in the safety of your communities and teams. With that, it's time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Here are some good places to start:
Waste Management
- Reduce your paper use. Reducing paper use is important because paper production requires a lot of chemicals and energy, which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. Switching to digital booking platforms and electric means of communications are great ways of reducing paper use, and can help eliminate the risk of human error when it comes to administrative processes.
- Implement a recycling program. Reducing the need to harvest, ship and process raw materials is another great way of mitigating one’s carbon footprint. Spa trade-in programs exist for equipment and materials you no longer need to use.
- Transition to reusable products, like cotton balls, wipes, round, cellulose sponges, small towels and applicators.
- Switch to biodegradable supplies. Nothing lasts forever and when we toss stuff, they can clog up our landfills for years. Switching to single-use, biodegradable towels and wipes for cleaning can spare the water and energy it would take to launder them while ensuring your business isn’t adding to the polyester waste burden.
- Track your waste. There’s software out there to make your life easier in a host of ways, but one of these includes tracking your business’ waste output. This can also have useful insights into inventory, demand and minimizing financial waste.
- Look into more discerning waste removal options. Proper and responsible waste removal can help process stuff that shouldn’t be going into landfills, which may be useful for identifying where additional recycling measures can be taken, can mitigate some of the backlog in landfills and can help prevent environmental contamination.
Energy Use
- Switch to energy-efficient lighting. Opening your own business or renovating soon? This is the perfect opportunity to switch to energy-efficient light fixtures. Prioritizing energy efficiency can also help mitigate our greenhouse gas emissions. Try LED lights! They use less energy and last longer than traditional lightbulbs.
- Transition what you can to renewable energy sources. Another great way of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Solar-electric panels, for example, can power your spa at night and can power your business directly or store energy away in a battery for later.
Water Use
- Recycle your water. Installing water purification or greywater recycling systems can treat water from showers and sinks to be ready for non-drinking uses. Doing this can reduce the strain on our freshwater resources, especially in dryer, more arid areas.
Since spas require a higher degree of hygiene for water use, a combination of filtration and disinfecting will be required. Maintaining an ideal water pH, alkalinity and calcium hardness are necessary to ensure water is clean and to avoid damaging equipment. Some spas are even exploring natural alternatives to traditional chemical sanitizers!
Chemicals
- Use natural/naturally packaged skin care products. Natural products tend to be botanical-based and biodegradable, thereby reducing landfill waste and environmental contamination. If making the switch, watch labels for natural ingredients, like plant extracts, herbs and clays.
Community + You
- Incorporate sustainability into training. Educating staff on sustainability practices and their importance can ensure that the team is on the same page and create a welcoming, encouraging environment to participate while reaffirming value alignment.
- Participate in tree-planting initiatives. Trees remove CO2 from the atmosphere, and participating in initiatives can be a great way of building relationships between team members, and also building a rapport with your community.
- Tailor your business model to prioritize regenerative index. In making your own business more sustainable, you can feel better about it being allowed to endure, which bodes well for a longer window for earning, and selling (or inheriting) potential once you’re finished with it.
- Incorporate natural influences into design. While you can make your spa run sustainably, you can also incorporate natural design elements. By perpetuating the important connection between environmental health and an individual’s well-being, you can help nurture a sustainable culture among your team and in your community.
These aren’t the be-all-end-all of sustainable spa management, but are hopefully useful for anyone looking for more ideas on making their spa a little greener.
Remember, any and all measures matter—don’t feel like just because you may not be able to do all of these, that there’s no point in doing any of them. Remember also that, “not today” can just as easily mean “tomorrow.”
Have you had success doing any of these things? Do you have a shoutout for a sustainable spa in your life? Let us know at @skinincmedia!
