Green Meeting Package makes going green more than just a motto at MLH

With the growing number of environmentally educated consumers, expectations are higher of both leisure travellers and corporate meeting guests. To assist in this cause, MLH has developed a Green Meeting Package for conferences and even small and medium meeting sessions

As part of a full-scale going green initiative, MLH has organised a team of dedicated individuals to make up the newly-formed Green Team Committee. The committee is charged with the responsibility of carrying out both corporate and property directives to make operations as green as possible over the upcoming years.

“Going green is not just a trend at MLH,” says General Manager, Anura Dewapura. “The enthusiastic team members participating in our Green program are passionate about their involvement. These are individuals who have already been taking green strides in their personal lives and now feel they can make a larger impact by affecting how we do our business on a daily basis.”

The new green programme will also help to meet the demands of the hotel’s clientele. With the growing number of environmentally educated guests, expectations are higher of both leisure guest and corporate meeting guests. To assist in this cause, MLH has developed a Green Meeting Package for conferences and even small and medium meeting sessions.

The going green experience tends to cover three main points of discussion – conserving energy and resources, recycling and reusing of products and utilising local and organic opportunities. The new package has been formatted to touch all three of these key points. A spin-off of the original CMP (conference and meeting package), it includes all of the same standard features – overnight guest room, conference dining, break stations, and audio visual. This package, unlike the rest, adds an environmental advantage with a few significant features and a charitable partnership.

In order to reduce paper waste, notepads and paper are not provided with the new Complete Green Meeting Package, however if the guests require notepaper, 100% recycled paper is used, creating a unique environment that is offset by including wireless internet access and electrical extensions. These added features enable attendees to bring laptops for note taking.

The meeting and guest room temperatures will be set to maintain a certain temperature and reduce energy wasted by fluctuations. Paper products used and toxins emitted by housekeepers are minimised by utilising environmentally efficient cleaning products. Also, as is standard to conserve electricity, MLH has already begun converting to Energy star appliances and light bulbs with each replacement. However, the new package will again step further with recycling initiatives. To start, the meeting room setup does not include the standard bottle of water at every seat – the attendees receive water glasses and coffee mugs (instead of paper or plastic cups). Iced pitchers of citrus infused water will adorn the tables and soft drinks at the break station will have easy access recycle bins for disposal. The guestrooms are refreshed with Simple Green cleaning products and also currently feature towel recycling programmes. In the same spirit, housekeepers will remake beds daily, with sheets replaced upon request.

The Complete Green Meeting Package continues to influence the event experience through meeting breaks and conference dining. Standard packaged snacks and candies, available while each meeting is in session, are eliminated and replaced by healthy nuts, fruits, and other organic products.

Meals prepared for attendees will be made with a variety of local and organic products, thus reducing carbon footprints and utilising the best resources. The hotel’s Executive Chef and global specialty chefs will only call upon nearby farms, who take pride in both their product and how their production process affects the environment, in order to provide the best flavour and presentation.

Lastly, the package also will feature an important charitable component and provide information on ways that attendees can alter the impact personally made on the environment. For every paid package sold per person per day a certain percentage will be donated to the Mihindu Preschool, a community development project that MLH is supporting.