Surfrider Launches New Ocean Friendly Hotels Program

The Surfrider Foundation is very excited to announce the launch of our new Ocean Friendly Hotels Program!

The Program

This program celebrates hotels that have eliminated unnecessary single-use plastic and offers a simple, straightforward framework to help them implement practices that are better for the health of our ocean. 

This program will function similarly to our nationally recognized and successful Ocean Friendly Restaurants Program. To join, hotels must follow a set of mandatory and optional criteria that focuses on single-use plastic reduction and more. The result of this program will be a community of hotels our chapters can promote, support, and lift up as successful examples to influence greater adoption of ocean-friendly business practices and even more single-use plastic reduction legislation.

The larger we grow our network of Ocean Friendly business leaders, the more mainstream the concept of single-use plastic-free becomes.

The Criteria

Mandatory Criteria
(Hotels Must Follow All 7)

1. No plastic beverage bottles or plastic bags are sold or used onsite. 
2. No expanded polystyrene is used anywhere onsite (aka Styrofoam). 
3. Cups, utensils, straws, condiments, and other accessory items in rooms are reusable or made from naturally occurring materials and are not packaged in plastic. 
4. Toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, lotion, etc.) are not packaged in small plastic bottles.
5. Water refill stations are available for guests onsite.
6. If applicable, restaurants or cafes onsite are Surfrider Ocean Friendly Restaurants.
7. Proper solid waste recycling procedures are followed and bins are amply provided for guest use.

Optional Criteria
(Hotels Must Choose At Least 3)

1. Coffee and tea stations do not use single-use pods or plastic packaging in rooms.
2. Concessions and pre-packaged food items are not sold or distributed in plastic packaging, including in room mini bars.
3. Room keys are reusable or made from naturally occurring materials.
4. Energy efficiency efforts are in place. At minimum, rooms must have signage that reminds guests to turn off lights and air/heat when leaving the rooms.
5. Water conservation and pollution mitigation efforts are implemented. At minimum, rooms must have signage which asks guests to consider using their towels and linens more than once in the rooms.
6. Inspired by Surfrider Kauai Chapter’s Ocean Friendly Visitors Program, solo trash cleanup kits are available for guests. 
7. Onsite gift shops only sell or provide sunscreen that is reef friendly.
8. Outdoor light pollution is minimized. 
9. Hotel landscaping follows Surfrider's Ocean Friendly Garden Program criteria or there is an Ocean Friendly Garden onsite.

The Inspiration

For years our Surfrider Chapters have worked closely with hotels through the Ocean Friendly Restaurants Program, campaigns, local programs, and community collaborations. The Kauai Chapter spearheads a local Ocean Friendly Visitors Program and the Maui Chapter leads Rise Above Plastics on Vacation, encouraging hotels and visitors to reduce their single-use plastic use. In New York and Washington, our chapters successfully campaigned to ban mini toiletry bottles statewide. 

With the launch of the Ocean Friendly Hotels Program, chapters now have an official framework to help guide hotels to reduce their use of mini toiletry bottles and other single-use plastic items. 

The Goal 

Surfrider has a goal to add 100 hotels in the next five years. This will eliminate an estimated 4,117,200 plastic water bottles and 6,175,800 mini toiletry bottles annually from our landfills and polluting our ocean! Help us reach our goal. If you manage or own a hotel that would be a great fit for the program, sign up today!