Pride Inn Hotels set do away with plastic water bottles to save marine life

PrideInn Group of Hotels management team led by Managing Director Hasnain Noorani (middle),the PrideInn Paradise Beach Resort General Manager Mohamed Omar (left) and Flamingo Beach General Manager Victor Shitaka (right) display their proposed water bottles at their beach grounds in Mombasa at the weekend in an effort to reduce Marine Plastics Pollution. [Maarufu Mohamed,Standard]

A hotel group has announced plans to do away with single-use plastic bottles in efforts to save the environment.

The management of Pride Inn Group of Hotels is encouraging its guests to draw water from dispensers instead of carrying around plastic bottles.

Building on the momentum of the 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP24) in Poland and the Blue Economy Conference in Nairobi, the management has pledged its commitment to reducing single-use plastic bottles in all its eight hotels in Mombasa and Nairobi starting March 1.

This will follow a crusade dubbed 'Eliminate Plastics Campaign' the hotel plans to launch mid this month which will focus on encouraging conference delegates and holidaymakers to use water from dispensers.

The campaign will also involve collecting used plastics along the beach and creating awareness on the dangers of plastics.

"We want to play our part in reducing pollution by plastics, especially in the ocean. We want to ensure use of plastic bottles within our facilities has reduced and eventually done away with,” said Hasnain Noorani (above), the group's managing director.

Researchers estimate that 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic has been produced globally since the early 1950s. About 60 per cent of this has ended up in either a landfill or the natural environment.

"Plastics are killing sea creatures. They find their way deep into the ocean, killing iconic species such as turtles, sharks and whales. We want to sensitise our customers and Kenyans at large to reduce use of plastic bottles,” said Mr Noorani.

Most plastics are produced from chemicals derived from oil, natural gas and coal, which are non-renewable.