Hotel slippers are environmental groups' next target

• Disposable slippers have become the latest product that activists aim to ban
• Hotels nationwide have taken action to ditch single-use slippers 
• But some resorts face challenges in finding reusable options

After successfully banning plastic straws and grocery bags amid climate change fears, environmental groups have identified a new target: one-time use slippers.

Joining the ranks of gas stoves, washing machines, refrigerators and home water heaters, single-use slippers have become the latest product that activists aim to ban.

Hotels nationwide have taken action to ditch single-use slippers, with some opting for slippers made from jute or bamboo and many asking travelers to bring their own slippers.

‘Anything single-use is problematic,’ said Willy Legrand, a sustainable hospitality expert and a professor at the IU International University of Applied Sciences in Germany, in an interview with the New York Times.

After successfully banning plastic straws and grocery bags amid climate change fears, environmental groups have identified a new target: one-time use slippers

Hotels nationwide have taken action to ditch single-use slippers, with some opting for slippers made from jute or bamboo and many asking travelers to bring their own slippers

Large plastic bags of garbage on the streets of New York

Plastic straws can be easily replaced by paper substitutes

‘Waste from hotel slippers may seem minor when compared to larger issues like energy consumption, food waste or water usage,’ Legrand said.

‘However, at the end of the day, every bit of waste adds up and increasing attention is being paid to these aspects as part of a broader sustainable industry approach.’

But unlike the crackdown on plastic straws, which can be easily replaced by paper substitutes, the fight against single-use slippers could prove challenging because of its cultural implications and status symbol.

Providing slippers has become a standard practice at luxury resorts worldwide, with the offering not only provides comfort and hygiene but also aligns with the Asian tradition of removing shoes indoors.

‘As hotels started to cater to international guests, particularly those from Asia, the provision of slippers became a way to accommodate and respect these cultural norms,’ sustainability expert Verde Nieto said.

‘Our guests are very demanding and expect everything brand new,’ said Ivan Bauza, the director of sales and marketing at the Setai, a luxury hotel in Miami Beach, Florida.

By providing slippers, resorts show ‘the luxury aspect’ of hospitality to their guests and improve status ratings from travel websites.

‘The problem is, it’s one of those things that people have come to expect,’ said Heather Smith Winkelmann, the managing director of Winvian, a boutique resort in Connecticut.

Chekitan S. Dev, a professor in the hospitality school at Cornell University, found only 27 percent of travelers used bathrobes provided in the rooms after tracking 50 hotel amenities.

‘We didn’t study slippers, but can safely assume that as many, or a few more, use slippers, especially as they are often unpacked and placed at bedside during turndown service, encouraging their use,’ Dev said.

By providing slippers, resorts show ‘the luxury aspect’ of hospitality to their guests and improve status ratings from travel websites

Unlike the crackdown on plastic straws, which can be easily replaced by paper substitutes, the fight against single-use slippers could prove challenging because of its cultural implications and status symbol

As many hotel groups begin to phase out single-use slippers from their amenities, some resorts find themselves struggling to discover a satisfying reusable slipper.

‘We are having many a debate about slippers, pens, cotton balls, toiletries,’ said Oliver Milne-Watson, the general manager of the Newman, a hotel slated to open this year in London.

‘We’re asking, “Can we make this with something with a longer life cycle, and if not, do we really need it?”‘ Milne-Watson said.

In the near future, travelers may have to pack their own slippers, much like they would carry water bottles and grocery bags.

‘I’ve contemplated how short of a life span these tend to have in the past, and now, I’ve gotten into the habit of taking my used pair with me when I leave the hotel,’ said Karla Cobreiro, a 33-year-old publicist based in Miami.

Professor LaGrand said, ‘We are at the stage now with this as it was with food waste a few years ago.’

‘It is when we start monitoring, measuring and quantifying both the cost of sourcing and wasting that the realization kicks in: We must do something about it!’

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