Since its founding in the mid-1990s, Six Senses has been committed to eliminating plastic from its properties.
Now, the brand is extending its initiative industry-wide with the Six Senses Journey to Plastic Freedom Playbook, which provides 82 tested solutions for reducing plastic across core hotel operations: housekeeping, back of house, F&B, and spa.
The playbook outlines how to replace plastic items like bags, toothpaste tubes, coffee capsules, and brooms, and it also details 10 principles for integrating environmental responsibility with uncompromising hospitality, efficiency, profitability, and guest and employee satisfaction.
As part of IHG’s luxury and lifestyle portfolio, Six Senses has shared this playbook with over 6,400 IHG properties worldwide. It will also be hosting a free webinar on this Wednesday, November 6th, to outline the playbook and why Six Senses is sharing its findings with the world.
The Six Senses initiative focuses on avoiding plastic use altogether (rather than simply recycling it) across all 27 of its hotels.
Plastic-free slippers are offered at Six Senses Spa Zighy Bay in Oman
Standout contributors include Dawa Tshering, restaurant manager at Six Senses Paro, Bhutan, who launched Bhutan’s first natural beeswax wrap production as a sustainable alternative to cling film, as well as Anupam Banerjee, wellness director at Six Senses Spa Zighy Bay, who introduced plastic-free slippers that can be fully recycled onsite.
“We are sharing our playbook with other hotel groups because the issue needs collective action if we are to make a real impact on our environment,” says Neil Jacobs, CEO of Six Senses. “What we know from our years of experience is that sustainability doesn’t have to be to the detriment of guest experience. This playbook only tells half the story. The real legacy will be how our journey is embedded within further afield and who knows, potentially become part of life for all hotel operations.”
The Six Senses Journey to Plastic Freedom Playbook was written by Six Senses’ in-house sustainability team in partnership with industry leaders, including Rachel McCaffery, CEO of the sustainable tourism consultancy Green Case; Ally Dragozet, CEO of the marine consultancy Sea Going Green; Phil Bloomfield, founder of communications agency Ready to Bloom; and Jo Hendrickx, founder of Travel Without Plastic.
“It can be overwhelming to face up to how much material you use, and the cost of plastic alternatives can add up,” says McCaffery. “But when compared to the cost that long-term plastic is extracting from wildlife and our own health, is it a change you really can’t afford to make? What was most encouraging was the engagement from Six Senses guests and hosts.”
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