Love Those Mini Toiletries When Traveling? In 2021, They Will Disappear From Some Hotels by Belinda Lichty Clarke

Beginning in 2021, those mini-sized toiletries will be gone from 843,000 hotel rooms across InterContinental Group's group of global hotels. IHG, which owns Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Kimpton, announced the change on July 30, 2019, and said in a corporate press release that it's the first major hotel chain to make the environmentally friendly change. The miniature products will be replaced with bulk-sized versions.

“It’s more important than ever that companies challenge themselves to operate responsibly – we know it’s what our guests, owners, colleagues, investors and suppliers rightly expect," said Keith Barr, CEO of IHG. "Switching to larger-size amenities across more than 5,600 hotels around the world is a big step in the right direction and will allow us to significantly reduce our waste footprint and environmental impact as we make the change.

"We’ve already made great strides in this area, with almost a third of our estate already adopting the change and we’re proud to lead our industry by making this a brand standard for every single IHG hotel. We’re passionate about sustainability and we’ll continue to explore ways to make a positive difference to the environment and our local communities.”

IHG reports that the company currently has an average of 200 million bathroom miniatures in use across its entire hotel estate every year, and this new effort will build on the company's ongoing commitment to minimizing waste. By the end of this year, IHG will remove plastic straws from its hotels and it is using duvet and pillow covers made with 100-percent recycled materials in some of its rooms. 

CNN Business reported that other hospitality chains are making similar moves, yet on a smaller scale. According to CNN, Marriott announced in 2018 it was replacing miniature-sized plastic toiletries with bulk-sized dispensers at 1,500 hotels in North America. Hilton revealed this March that it is recycling used soap, transforming it into new bars of soap after they've been crushed and sanitized.

Got opinions on the topic? Tell us what you think about this bold sustainability move!

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