From local initiatives such as Plastic Free Snowdonia to national campaigns such as Keep Wales Tidy, individuals and groups all across the Snowdonia region are doing their bit to reduce the consumption of single-use plastics, recycle more efficiently and waste less.
The Royal Victoria Hotel is doing its bit by participating in the Plastic Free Yr Wyddfa Business Scheme. By reducing single-use plastics within the national park it is hoped a thriving sustainable visitor economy will be created, protecting the future of Yr Wyddfa. The scheme aims to help people and businesses to switch on to the positive changes they can implement to help protect and preserve our environment.
Over the last couple of years the hotel has been making small but significant changes to reduce plastic usage in the hope of making a big impact. So far we're delighted to have achieved Glaslyn (Silver) rating from Plastic Free Yr Wyddfa and now we're busy working towards our Copa (Gold) rating.
Here are some of the things we've done in and around the hotel:
- Bathrooms and restrooms - refillable toiletries instead of individual bottles;
- Guest packed lunches - we have switched to biodegradable sandwich boxes;
- Takeaway pizza - we have switched to biodegradable pizza boxes;
- Staff refreshment - we provide a water fountain for staff to refill water bottles;
- Guest refreshment - we provide a water fountain at breakfast for residents to refill water bottles;
- In the bar - we have switched to biodegradable straws for drinks.
On the hotel's progress towards going plastic-free, General Hotel Manager Ann Owen said:
"We’ve been looking at how we can reduce our plastic packaging and our hotel’s footprint generally for some time, and we have been working with local businesses such as Cole & Co. to achieve that goal.
We’re therefore really pleased to be working with Plastic Free Yr Wyddfa to further our ambitions of being a sustainable provider, whilst having a direct impact on this beautiful part of the world. Our efforts have already been recognised with a Glaslyn (Silver) accreditation from the National Park and we look forward to moving further along the Plastic Free Path by the next time we’re audited!’’