Who They Are:
Doolin Hostel believe in doing business in an environmentally conscious way. They are continually improving the hostel buildings, putting the needs of their guests and their local environment first. Doolin Hostel became a member of the Burren Ecotourism Network in 2014 and undertook the code of practice training in 2013.
What They Did
Since taking over the properties in February 2012 they have continually renovated with an environmentally conscious ethos and made major developments in the areas of energy, waste and water management.
Energy
Achieved a reduction of 21% in 2014 from 118240kwh to 93668 kwh by installing 2 x 50kw high condensing gas boilers with a highly insulated 1000l twin coil tank, zoning the heating, adding thermostat controls to all radiators and switching lighting to LED sensors where possible.
Waste
Reviewing how they were doing businesses the Moloney’s looked looked at the cafe menu, cleaning products and all regular purchases to find ways in to reduce and control waste. They also introduced waste segregation in bedrooms and public areas. In 2013 landfill waste was 0.2kg per sleeper, Food Waste 0.14kg/sleeper, Recyclable Waste was 0.22kg/sleeper.
Water
they are currently in the process of refurbishing bathrooms to reduce water usage by adding single level taps with low flow aerators, low flush toilets, thermostatically controlled showers with low flow shower heads while penny valves are being fitted to all sink taps and toilets to isolate leaks , identify possible faulty equipment and to control the flow of water.
Outcome
In 2014 they became the first hostel in Ireland to achieve the following:
- Gold Award with Green Hospitality Awards
- Gold level with Trip Advisors Green Leader Programme
- Responsible Travel and Tourism Awards: Winner of Responsible
Top Tip
Make changes as you go; doing a little each day has a big impact on the environment.
“Our green ethos although not perfect has seen improvement day on day and has being a significant contributor to increase visitor numbers, increased customer spend and increase customer satisfaction with many reviews and customer feedback noting our environmental ethos as a very positive experience” Anthony Moloney
Accommodation Provider , Winner of Best Energy management improvement and were Highly Commended for Best Waste Management Improvement