Excellent consideration, in all senses bar one, but we'll come to the latter later.
Sustainability? 100% yes.
Recycling? 100% yes
- and in both of those alone, everyone should be taking that direction, and refilling the bottles they already have (and with everything else they provide as well) but to get back to toiletries - yes, yes, yes!
OK so let's look at the refilling of bottles - and incidentally, there's a world of difference between bottles that sit on shelves/surfaces and are in/on dispensers.
For years I had provided bottles which sat in wall-mounted brackets, but also had a couple of bottles not held in brackets, and all were much appreciated by our Guests.
If one has the time to do the topping up oneself, then yes, I would say that that's the best way to handle changeovers.
If external Cleaners are involved, then for bottles with pump heads, by far the easiest way to top them up, is to not do that, but rather, that there should be a supply of full bottles ,vdo that ones Cleaner(s) will be able to swap an empty, or partly used bottle for a full one.
Someone at some time, however, will have to top up the store of partly-used bottles, otherwise one day, one's Cleaners may well send an SOS message "we've run out of bottles!"
Now, about the containers of the top-up toiletries. You'll have to stop and think! -
a). How many toiletries do you usually provide?
b). Do you have somewhere to store the refill bottles?
c). Do you have somewhere where you'll be able to easily top up the bottles?
d). The cost of each full container of the refill fluid.
e). Whether you have a steady hand!
To put those questions into context, we originally provided 5 toiletries (hand wash; hand lotion; shower wash; body lotion; shampoo), and it was usual for everyone to use most of the items, so whether 1, 2, 3 or more bottles, they had to be replaced at every changeover.
It is normal for Refill bottles to contain 5L of the respective liquids, and not only that, but the bottles are heavy, unwieldy, and when topping-up smaller bottles, one needs to have worked out a "top-up strategy" - with enough space in which to move around, in order to transfer liquid from a big container, into whichever sized bottle one leaves out for Guests (we use the 250ml size)
The big refill bottles are usually provided with an equally big, pump dispenser.
As one gets used to topping up smaller bottles from such a large container, one does get more proficient at it, but at first, topping-up can sometimes because hit-or-miss exercise, so please have something to catch any "overflow" on the floor, as well as kitchen roll paper on hand to wipe away any fluid from around the neck of the bottle being topped up (having a wet wipe to wipe away anything soap related, will only make the mess worse, so in such instances it would be better - after screwing the pump-head firmly back onto the Guests' bottles - to put the filled bottles under a tap, just to remove any overflows, and then to dry the bottles individually.
Whilst all of the above might sound like a lot of work, etc, it is, but then once one gets into the rhythm of top-ups, not only will the actions get a lot easier to do, but one will discover how much one push of the big pump in the refill bottle will deliver into the Guests bottles, but far more beneficial will be the savings one will make by buying the 5L refill containers, instead of lots of 250ml bottles!
Yes, the 5L containers will cost more, but will still save one lots of money in comparison to purchasing individual 250ml bottles, or even providing complimentary 50ml (or smaller) bottles.
Think plastic. Think reycling. Think plastic cannot be recycled without some of it ending up in water or land.
Think our children's future.
All the best with whatever one does, but it's definitely the best way to keep down one's costs, as well as to help both the environment and the world
Apologies the above is so long, but we all need to go into such. Hanged with our eyes open wide, especially with the nitty-gritties!
