Fairmont St Andrews has joined the Clean the World hospitality initiative, which will see the five-star Scottish resort donate its soaps and discarded hygiene products to be recycled for humanitarian organisations around the world.
The initiative will form part of Fairmont St Andrews longstanding commitments to green tourism, in which hotel staff and guests are encouraged to help with the preservation of the local habitat, reduce waste and promote a sustainable future to benefit those in need.
After being collected from its 209 guest bedrooms and suites, the donated hygiene items will be hygienically recycled and distributed to homeless shelters, children’s shelters, women’s shelters, food banks, veterans groups and people struggling due to economic misfortune or natural disaster.
As well as delivering the Fairmont Sustainability Partnership, Fairmont St Andrews has introduced a sustained building management system which in its first year has delivered a reduction in paper and water usage, an increase in food recycling as well as an on-site green house and vegetable garden. LED lighting in all public areas and rooms has also been introduced, as have community tourism initiatives including beach cleaning and maintenance of the Fife Coastal Path.
Since launching eight years ago, Clean the World has distributed more than 38 million soap bars to 115 countries, more than 1.1 million hygiene kits, and diverted in excess of 5,000 tons of waste from landfills.
John Keating, general manager at Fairmont St Andrews, commented, “We strive at Fairmont St Andrews to reduce our use of energy, water and waste produced and consumed; I am proud of our sustainability teams, who were presented with a Silver Award from Scottish Green tourism in 2016, we hope for further recognition and a Gold Award this year.
'We are dedicated to raise awareness of Clean the World and giving back to those less fortunate. We are extremely pleased to support such a worthwhile cause and look forward to working with the charity.”
Pierre Daigneault, executive director and chief sustainability of Clean the World, said, 'I am proud to have such a landmark as the first Scottish hotel to join our soap recycle program,' said Daigneault. 'By doing so, Fairmont St Andrews is setting the standard and will most likely be followed by many more Scottish hotels.'