Sokos Hotels that has already 35 Green Key certified hotels in Finland take their environmental work seriously. They have recently done impressive environmental work when renovating their establishments, at the same time spreading good will by donating the replaced goods.
In Original Sokos Hotel President that lies in Helsinki city center thousands of furniture are replaced when giving the hotel a refreshed look. The old furniture will get a new life in multiple ways: Some of them have been reupholstered to fit the hotel´s new look. Some have been relocated to staff premises. Beds, blankets, pillows, curtains and night tables in turn get to continue their lives with a help of a Finnish company named Freshrent.
Freshrent cleanses and renovates the old materials. Some of the materials are good enough to be sold to private homes, smaller hotels and festivity premises. There are also temporary houses for construction workers as well as reception centers furnished with the old hotel beds.
Often hundreds of beds can be replaced when renovating a hotel. These beds might end up in a landfill but Freshrent gives it´s all to keep the stuff away from the landfills: If a bed is not suitable for use anymore it will be put into pieces that are recycled. Caring about the nature is a trend but Festrent also has plenty of customers that highly value the good quality of durable old hotel beds, states their CEO Juha Mäkinen.
Recycling furniture to fight social exclusion
Renovated Original Sokos Hotel Puijonsarvi at the city of Kuopio in turn donated their old goods to local work training foundation, Tukeva. The foundation gives workshops where the goods are renovated and then sold in foundation´s shops. The earnings from the shops are used to support socially exclusioned young people and long term unemployed.
Also, Original Sokos Hotel Alexandra in Jyväskylä donated some of their beds to help prevent social exclusion and help the long term unemployed, however, also the animals got their share of good will: Bedsheets were donated to vet clinics and to a local agility association.
Responsible business is made of everyday choices
Reusing and recycling as part of everyday work is a fundamental part of Green Key work and an important part of responsible hotel business. Sokos Hotels chain is working hard to have all their remaining few hotels Green Key certified by the end of the year 2017.