Asia Pacific Journal of Multidisciplinary Research

P-ISSN 2350-7756 | E-ISSN 2350-8442 | www.apjmr.com | Volume 2, No. 5, October 2014

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
73
P-ISSN 2350-7756 | E-ISSN 2350-8442 | www.apjmr.com

Greening the Hotel Operations: Puerto Princesa Experience

JOSEFINA S. VIERNES, MSHRM, MEM
College of Business and Management, Western Philippines University, Puerto Princesa City, PHILIPPINES
[email protected], [email protected]

Date Received: July 16, 2014; Date Revised: August 15, 2014

Abstract - The study was conducted to assess the extent of implementation of green practices in the
housekeeping and food and beverage departments among standard hotels in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan
with respect to solid waste management, water conservation and energy utilization.
The descriptive design was utilized in this research. Respondents of this study were the supervisors and
staff of the Housekeeping and Food and Beverage Departments of the 13 standard hotels in Puerto Princesa
City. Using total enumeration, 52 hoteliers were asked to answer the survey questionnaire to be able to come
up with data needed in the study. Frequency counts, percentages, means and Analysis of Variance were used
to interpret and analyze the data gathered.
Among the three groups of green practices included in the study, solid waste management obtained the
highest mean for both the housekeeping department and food and beverage department which indicates that
green practices under this category are the most extensively implemented.
Conversely, respondents from the housekeeping department rated green practices related to energy
utilization as the least implemented while food and beverage department respondents revealed that green
practices pertaining to water conservation are the least implemented.
Using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA), the responses revealed that there is no significant
difference in the extent of implementation of green practices in all the three categories that were studied
within hotels. However, a significant difference among hotels was found out when it comes to the extent of
implementation of green practices for the same categories.

Keywords Green Practices, Puerto Princesa City, Housekeeping Department, Food and Beverage
Department

I. INTRODUCTION
Philippines, although a relatively minor contributor
of global greenhouse gases, is nevertheless, highly
vulnerable to the impacts of climate change because of
its location, geography, and vulnerability to periodic El
Nio and La Nia climatic effects (Rincon, 2008).
Among the known effects of climate change are the
increase in frequency and intensity of heat-waves,
floods, droughts and typhoons (Rincon, 2008). In a span
of only 20 years, the country had been seen to have
increased its sea levels three times the rate of the rest of
the world.
In places where such exceptionally destructive
phenomenon occurs, people and properties, including
businesses are adversely affected. The impact on the
economy is especially felt by main industries like hotels
and tourism-based enterprises. As one of the biggest
industries worldwide, hotels are currently getting more
and more concerned about the same environmental
issues. As the hospitality industry is energy- and water-
intensive in its operation, the more it is now considered
as a significant player in increasing global warming.
Bohdanowicz and Martinac (2007) indicated that 75%
of environmental pollution caused by hotel industry was
from over-consuming energy, water, and materials
while operating their business. The waste water, fume,
and materials discharged during the operation had
caused negative impacts on our environment. Studies
reveal that the three key areas of environmental impact
are energy, water, and waste.
Thus, without policies that support the
implementation of appropriate green practices, hotels
could add to the adverse impact of intensive energy and
water use as well as increase in wastes that go back to
the environment. The concept of environment
protection and energy saving can introduce green
management into hotel facility construction. If hotel
industry can put the idea of green management into
Asia Pacific Journal of Multidisciplinary Research | Vol. 2, No. 5| October 2014
Viernes, J. S. , Greening the Hotel Operations: Puerto Princesa Experience

74
P-ISSN 2350-7756 | E-ISSN 2350-8442 | www.apjmr.com
practice through specific actionable policies, not only
can it benefit the environment and the eco system, it
would also reduce hotel operation cost. Moreover, with
policies in place, the same maybe used in launching
what is known as green marketing, thereby potentially
attract more consumers who are keen about the same
ideal (Chen, 2012).
Among all Philippine provinces, Palawan stands out
environmentally because of its status as a major
repository of biological diversity as well as an
ecologically sensitive area. It was hailed as the
countrys Last Ecological Frontier and a UNESCO
Biosphere Reserve. Its capital, Puerto Princesa City,
was transformed into one of the more famous eco-
tourism destinations within the country and throughout
the world. The city is a global model for environment
protection, elevating it into the Hall of Fame as the
Philippines cleanest and greenest component city
and winning several global recognition and awards in
the process. It has the largest forest cover as well as the
healthiest coral reef cover. The United Nations declared
it as a Biosphere Reserve while the worlds
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change awarded it
as the first carbon neutral city in the Philippines when
in fact it is significantly a carbon negative environment.
This reputation has given rise to a unique law called
the Strategic Environmental Plan for Palawan (SEP
Law). The centerpiece of the SEP Law is the creation of
an Environmentally Critical Areas Network (ECAN),
basically a zoning system that divides each of the
provinces 23 towns and the capital city into core zones,
buffer zones and multiple use zones. Under the SEP
law, equitable access to resources is emphasized and
local community management is encouraged.
Ecological viability and social acceptability of
development projects are given importance.
With all the facts mentioned above about the
Philippines vulnerability to the adverse effects of
climate change, the hospitality industrys contribution
in increasing global warming due to its over-
consumption of energy and Puerto Princesas attempt to
continue being in charge in the protection and
conservation of its natural resources through the help of
the SEP Law and the commitment of Palawenos to
preserve its environment, it has become inevitable to
make use of a system that would help the hotel
management make these pieces of information known
to everyone working in the company.
It is on this note that the researcher has decided
to conduct a study on the extent of implementation of
green practices among standard hotels in Puerto
Princesa City. Since there have already been a number
of studies that were conducted here and abroad on this
topic, it is high time to conduct the same study in the
Philippines Last Ecological Frontier.

II. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
This study aimed to determine the extent of
implementation of green practices in the housekeeping
and food and beverage department among standard
hotels in Puerto Princesa City with respect to solid
waste management, water conservation, and energy
utilization; and to find out if there a significant
difference within and among the standard hotels in the
extent of their implementation of green practices.

III. METHODS
The study had a total of 52 respondents. One
supervisor and one staff from the housekeeping
department and another set from the food and beverage
department of the 13 standard hotels in Puerto Princesa
City were asked to answer the questionnaire. The
survey instrument or questionnaire was patterned by the
researcher after the Green Business Standards Checklist
for Hotels and Resorts which was developed by the Bay
Area Green Business Program and the Best
Environmental Practices for the Hotel Industry made by
Sustainable Business Associates group.
Green practices were divided into three categories
namely; solid waste management, energy utilization and
water conservation. The hotel supervisors and staff
from both housekeeping and food and beverage
departments were asked to rate green practices listed
under the three identified categories according to the
extent by which they are implemented in the hotel. The
following rating scale was used: 5 - Always
implemented (100% of the time); 4 - Most of the time
implemented (61% to 99% of the time); 3 Sometimes
implemented (31% to 60% of the time); 2 Rarely
implemented (1% to 30% of the time); and 1 - Not yet
implemented (0% all the time).
In order to determine the extent of implementation
of green practices, the weighted mean of the individual
responses of the hoteliers was computed per statement
based on the response scale of 1-5. Finally, the results
were ranked from highest to lowest for all the three
different categories.

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Extent of Implementation of Green Practices in the
Housekeeping Department
Asia Pacific Journal of Multidisciplinary Research | Vol. 2, No. 5| October 2014
Viernes, J. S. , Greening the Hotel Operations: Puerto Princesa Experience

75
P-ISSN 2350-7756 | E-ISSN 2350-8442 | www.apjmr.com
In this study, data show that among the solid waste
management practices implemented in the
housekeeping department, the two statements that got
the highest mean were: Implement a hotel-wide
recovery and recycling program of fiber, cardboard,
mixed paper, newspapers, and office paper and
Designate a space to store all recyclables including
plastic (MRF). Recycling seems to be a common
practice among standard hotels in Puerto Princesa City.
It is, however, interesting to note that although hotels
are most commonly implementing recycling program,
the statement Provide guestroom recycler baskets for
newspaper, white paper, glass, bottles, aluminum,
cardboard, plastics, etc. got the lowest rank among the
solid waste practices rated by the hoteliers. This
indicates that the guests are not active participants in the
recycling process being done by hotels. It is the staff of
the housekeeping department that is tasked to segregate
and recycle the solid wastes from the guest rooms.
Guest rooms are not normally designed to contain
several receptacles for solid waste disposal. Hotel
operators design programs and policies to contribute to
the overall comfort and convenience of guests during
their brief stay and not the other way around. It is not
their task to separate although, the hotel may post an
information in the guestrooms about the hotels
segregation and recycling practice as part of its
information and advocacy campaign.
As for the green practices pertaining to water
conservation, the top two statements that got the highest
weighted mean were as follows: Sort laundry
according to the degree of soiling, so that only the
dirtiest items are washed intensively (x = 4.62) and
Remind guests and employees against leaving taps
open when not in use (x = 4.54). These two
statements reflect the two most commonly implemented
water conservation green practices that were observed
by the supervisors and the staff in the housekeeping
department. This may be due to the simplicity of these
tasks thats why they were implemented most of the
time.
On the other hand, the green practices that earned
the lowest weighted mean are: Install water-saving
devices in appropriate places (flow regulators, water
flow sensors, self-closing taps, low-flush toilets, etc.)
and Advise the laundry staff to recover the rinse water
from relatively unsoiled loads for the next cycles
prewash and wash load. The former statement is
mainly about the absence of water saving devices that
can control the water flow. This can be easily solved
through purchasing such equipment in order to save
more water and cut down the water bill. As for the
second statement, proper training as well as
commitment to the advocacy in water conservation
could be the keys to implement this green practice.
For the last category which is energy utilization, the
top 2 most observed or implemented green practices
were the following: Remind guests to turn off the
television when no one is watching a program or show
and Use automatic cardkeys to open lights and other
utilities so that when they leave, rooms do not use
additional energy. These practices are widely
practiced among the hotels in Puerto Princesa. In fact,
some hotels even have some sort of signage that
encourages guests to switch off the appliances that are
run by electricity before they leave the room. Moreover,
all housekeeping personnel know this as a hotel policy
that prohibits them from turning on the television while
they are doing the room make up or cleaning the check
out room. On the same note, hotels have invested some
of its money in the installation of card key controlled
lights and other utilities because they know that this is
one of the effective ways to reduce their electric bill.

Extent of Implementation of Green Practices in the
Food and Beverage Department
In the Food and Beverage department particularly
under the solid waste management category, the
statement Practice first-in, first-out policy in the
use of ingredients and food items obtained the highest
weighted mean. This shows that kitchen personnel are
extensively implementing the FIFO method as part of
the company policy. In fact, 6 out of 13 hotels said that
they follow this all the time and the remaining number
of hotels does it most of the time. The green practice
that yielded the second highest weighted mean is Use
refillable containers for sugar, salt and pepper, and any
other condiments used. This practice is widely used
not only in Puerto Princesa City but also worldwide as
mentioned by the study of McPhee in 2006 and Micioni
in 2009 . More and more hotels are switching to the use
of refillable containers for condiments. Hotels are
making an effort to stay away from those that are
individually wrapped. With this, a huge amount of solid
waste is reduced.
On the other hand, the least observed green practice
pertaining to solid waste management is Track the
volume of solid waste generated on a monthly basis
which only got a mean of 3.92. This shows that
hoteliers do not monitor regularly the amount of waste
generated in their operations.
Asia Pacific Journal of Multidisciplinary Research | Vol. 2, No. 5| October 2014
Viernes, J. S. , Greening the Hotel Operations: Puerto Princesa Experience

76
P-ISSN 2350-7756 | E-ISSN 2350-8442 | www.apjmr.com
Meanwhile, in the energy utilization category, two
statements obtained the highest weighted average and
share the number 1 position. These statements are
Open refrigerators and freezers only when necessary
and Use cooking pots whose diameters are compatible
with the cookers or burners. Although the first
statement may seem like a very menial task, its
contribution to lowering the energy consumption of
hotels, especially big ones, is enormous. It is therefore
good to know that this is being practiced by hotels in
Puerto Princesa City. On the same note, the result of
this study showed that hoteliers believe that the use of
appropriate kitchen equipment is helpful in effective
utilization of energy.
Conversely, the Use of solar panels to heat water
for the guest rooms received the lowest mean rating
among all the green practices considered in the study
(3.15). This may be due to the absence of such
equipment in the standard hotels in the city.
Finally, the Food and Beverage departments most
extensively observed green practices concerning water
conservation are: Adjust the water flow according to
the type of cleaning to be done and Report equipment
and plumbing leaks to maintenance department
immediately. These two practices are both easy to do
thus, making it the most extensively implemented green
practices.

Comparison on the Extent of Implementation of Green
Practices within and Among Standard Hotels in Puerto
Princesa City
The hoteliers ratings of green practices were
computed and analyzed using Analysis of Variance.
The analysis was based on the three categories of green
practices as they are implemented in the hotel.

Housekeeping Department
In the housekeeping department, analysis of green
practices pertaining to solid waste management showed
that there is no significant difference (f-value=4.75) in
the perception of hoteliers within all the hotels.
However, results showed that there is a significant
difference (F-value=2.69) in the extent of
implementation of green practices among hotels. This
indicates that the practices pertaining to solid waste
management implemented within all the 13 hotels, as a
whole, do not differ in the extent or degree of their
implementation. The perception among the hotels is,
however, significantly different which means that one
hotel differed from another in their perception on the
extent of implementation of the green practices. These
perceptions are significant at .05 level which became
the basis for rejecting the null hypothesis of the study.
The extent of implementation in relation to energy
utilization standards that were practiced by hoteliers in
the housekeeping department produced the same result
as the first category. Data showed that within the target
hotels, the practices were implemented on almost the
same extent based on the computed ANOVA of the
responses of the hoteliers. On the other hand, it was
found out that there is a significant difference in the
extent of implementation of the same practices among
the 13 standard hotels.
A similar trend was found with respect to water
conservation. Results revealed no significant difference
on the extent of implementation of green practices
within the 13 hotels but a significant difference exists
among the 13 hotels. The results showed that the
respondents within the hotels have the same perception
about water conservation in the housekeeping
department whereas different hotels had different views
about the same category.

B. FOOD AND BEVERAGE DEPARTMENT
Aside from the housekeeping department, the food
and beverage department was also part of the study. The
analysis on the extent of implementation of green
practices under the solid waste management category
revealed that there is no significant difference within
each of the 13 hotels whereas a significant difference
was shown in the extent of implementation among
them. This is explained by the almost similar responses
of the respondents within the same hotel on the green
practices pertaining to solid waste management thus,
the null hypothesis is accepted. However, the opposite
is true when it comes to the comparison among hotels.
With regard to energy utilization category in the
food and beverage department of the hotels in the study,
results exposed that there is no significant difference on
the extent of implementation of green practices within
hotels. However, among hotels, the analysis showed
that there is a significant difference in the
implementation of these same practices, allowing for
the rejection of the null hypothesis.
As to water conservation standards, result of the
study also exposed that there is no significant difference
in the perception of respondents within hotels however
rejection of the null hypothesis was made among hotels
of the same category.

V. CONCLUSION
Based on the findings, the researcher therefore
concludes that supervisors and staff of both the
Asia Pacific Journal of Multidisciplinary Research | Vol. 2, No. 5| October 2014
Viernes, J. S. , Greening the Hotel Operations: Puerto Princesa Experience

77
P-ISSN 2350-7756 | E-ISSN 2350-8442 | www.apjmr.com
housekeeping and food and beverage departments
agreed that the green practices pertaining to solid waste
management were the most extensively implemented
among the three categories that were studied.
In the housekeeping department, the responses of
the hoteliers showed that green practices pertaining to
energy utilization was the least implemented whereas,
in the food and beverage department, green practices
involving water conservation was the least
implemented.
The results of this study conforms with the findings
of earlier studies conducted by Simpao (2011) and
Villapando (2013) which revealed that hotels in Metro
Manila and Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority are
greatly involved in energy management, water
conservation and waste management practices.
As for the existence of similarity or difference in
the extent of implementation of these green practices,
statistical analysis revealed that there is no significant
difference in the extent of implementation of green
practices within each hotel. This indicates that the
hoteliers within the hotel agree as to the extent of
implementation of the green practices for all the three
categories.
On the other hand, the result of this study showed
that a significant difference exists in the extent of
implementation of green practices among the 13 hotels.
This illustrates the difference in the perception of the
hoteliers from various hotels as to the extent of their
implementation of green practices for the three
categories.
In real practice, the standards followed by hotels in
the food and beverage and housekeeping departments
vary per hotel. No two hotels have exactly the same
standards. The standards used per hotel are faithfully
followed by all the hotel staff as shown by the results of
the statistical analysis

REFERENCES

Bohdanowicz, P., & Martinac, I. (2007). Determinants
and benchmarking of resource consumption in
hotelsCase study of Hilton International and
Scandic in Europe. Energy & Buildings, 39(1), 82-
95.
Chen, Yin-Chang and Chen, Yu-Ta (2012). The
Advantages of Green Management for Hotel
Competitiveness in Taiwan: In the Viewpoint of
Senior Hotel Managers. Journal of Management and
Sustainability. Vol. 2, No. 2; 2012.
McPhee, M. (2006). Sustainable resource management
in the hospitality industry. BioCycle, 47(10), 40.
Micioni, Christina W. (2009). Going green in the
hospitality industry. University of Nevada, Las
Vegas, USA.
Rincn, Maria Fernanda G. Climate Change in the
Philippines: A Contribution to the Country
Environmental Analysis
Santiago Simpao, Kristine Joy (2011). Extent of
Compliance with ASEAN Green Standards of
Selected Hotels in SBMA, Olongapo City. The
Philippine Womens University. Manila.
Villapando, Jason M. (2013). Green Initiatives of
Hotels Towards the Development of an Enhanced
Environmental Management Framework. The
Philippine Womens University. Manila.