There’s this weird thing that hotels have been doing for years, where they find ways to cut costs but tell you they’re doing it ‘for the environment’. That way you feel too sheepish to complain. After all, you don’t want to seem selfish. If you don’t want to reuse your towels, you’re using more water and detergent.
Hotels became increasingly emboldened over the years, cutting out individual toiletry bottles and even cutting out daily housekeeping entirely. That wasn’t really about the environment – it was about shaving housekeeper wages on the P&L.
Sure, the hotel wants you to fly to its destination. They’re happy to provide parking for your SUV. They might even heat the pool! But that extra towel, they say, it’s what matters for the environment.
A reader who prefers to use bar soap at the sink in the bathroom over liquid soap asked the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel directly across from the terminal if they could provide some in his room.
They got back to him in advance of his stay: won’t provide bar soap in bathrooms, even on request, for ‘sustainability’ reasons. Everyone at the hotel either flew there or will fly on a plane the next day! And don’t worry, because they’ll provide physical newspapers!
Please kindly note that, due to our sustainability initiatives, we no longer provide bar soaps and instead offer toiletries exclusively in liquid form… [W]e will arrange for either The New York Times or the Financial Times to be delivered on both your day of arrival and your day of departure.
The hotel actually features a photo of bar soap in its guest room bathrooms on its website gallery!
Let’s zoom in:
The cost-cutting masked by virtue signaling can go even farther – even with soap – as in the case of the Hilton property that refused to offer soap at all to guests.
“Sustainable” has become yet another one of these worthless buzzwords, like, “bespoke” and “curated,” to be used to try to sound elevated or important, but, otherwise, it’s meaningless to nearly everyone. Sure, the soap thing is green-washing.
“Greenwashing is a deceptive marketing tactic where companies misleadingly portray their products, services, or overall operations as more environmentally friendly or “green” than they actually are, exploiting growing consumer demand for sustainability without making genuine eco-friendly changes, often by using vague terms, irrelevant claims, or highlighting minor improvements to distract from bigger environmental harms.”
It is also insidious of companies to attempt to guilt-trip guests into cutting back on service (like daily housekeeping), claiming it helps the environment, when in reality, they’re just not paying staff and you’re re-using sheets, so more profits for the company and its owners, and worse for consumers and workers.
I share your concerns about greenwashing (plastic recycling being an insidious example) and I have no doubt that economics is the hotels’ primary motivation, but from an environmental perspective (which matters to me) I much prefer hotel soap/shampoo in large plastic bottles. Recycling small bottles is an environmental nightmare — often simply not possible. Bar soap is better, if it’s wrapped in cardboard or paper, but that doesn’t address shampoo and conditioner…and my hands simply get cleaner when using liquid soap, also a consideration for me.
Leave it to @1990isaretard above to turn a leftist environmentalist transparent farce into an anti-leftist conspiracy. You can’t please these people. You pander to them but they still aren’t happy. So don’t even try. You’ll never be communist enough for these idiots.
@Mantis — Thank you for allowing me to live rent-free in your head. With respect, may we please get some furniture up here? It’s kinda empty…
While I prefer bar soap, I’d rather use liquid soap + hand towel combo (lather it up!) versus a tiny soap square. If you must use bar soap, bring your own! This isn’t that big of an item, it costs $1-4 or whatever, and is not a big deal. I bring my own toothbrush and toothpaste and other “toiletries” already… the idea that you are emailing hotel customer service over a bar of soap – I mean, come on.
As for the hypocrisy, greenwashing (ha – soap, washing…) it’s all just par for the course these days. I’m surprised California hasn’t attempted to ban the direct sale of United’s $7 amenity kits… so many little plastic tubes of cream…
I’m not sure the liquid stuff (we don’t even know if it’s soap) is as effective. Plus, it could be tampered with or re-filled with the wrong product.
@Peter — So punny!
“Want Bar Buy Bar”