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Green News – GREEN HORECA

BBQ smoke dangers

Dangers from BBQ smoke

BBQ smoke contains a high level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are known to cause DNA mutations, respiratory disease, and even lung cancer. When the meat is being grilled, fat droplets fall into the coal and create PAH, flying into the air. All people who are next to an active BBQ grill can breathe these toxins.

The BBQ meat is delicious, attractive and popular among diners. Outdoor BBQs at home or food streets, food markets are used all over the world. In many Asian countries like China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan … grilled restaurants which serves BBQ at the table with Korean or Japanese barbecue are very popular and highly developed. Currently, many residential areas such as high-rise apartment buildings have BBQ areas on the ground for residents.

Diners are ready to sit and eat the dishes grilled at the tables in BBQ restaurants, mostly grilled with charcoal or gas, few understand that they are sitting next to a device that emits toxic emissions for their own body and environment.

Inexpensive BBQs restaurants do not have fume treatment systems. Professional BBQ restaurants with BBQ at the table usually have a small smoke pipe at each table to remove BBQ smoke, then blow into the entire system to discharge, but it is difficult to remove all BBQ smoke and odor at the table, diners still inhale a lot of smoke from the grill and the smoke with odor still lingers on people’s clothes. However, when the restaurant has a system to exhaust grilled smoke from all tables to the outside environment, when outside, it still affects and harms the surrounding environment, neighbors, people in the higher floors, other flora and fauna, …

Many people understand that inhaling smoke from a BBQ is not good, and many of us also know that eating grilled meat can have negative consequences for our health. Both inhaling smoke and eating grilled meat from the BBQ are harmful to health. However, according to a new study, the absorption of PAH through the skin may be an equally serious but unnoticed problem.

By monitoring a group of people enjoying a barbecue, Chinese researchers discover that the carcinogens in barbecue smoke are more likely to enter our bodies through our skin than our lungs.

Researchers at Jinan University in China, led by Eddy Y. Zeng, set out to quantify exactly how much PAH passes through the skin of someone at a BBQ. The Authors concluded that consuming grilled food accounted for the majority of PAH absorbed by the body. Skin came second and inhalation came third.  They believe that oils produced during a BBQ might ease the passage of PAHs through the skin. (Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com)

How to reduce the dangers from BBQ?

In order to protect the environment and human health, the restaurant industry needs to pay more attention to the methods to minimize harmful gases from kitchen fumes and from the BBQ smoke with reasonable cooking methods, and with eco protection equipment, green technology for treating smoke in the best way.

How much smoke flow emitted by a barbecue restaurant (with BBQs at the table) every working day?

Each BBQ at the table with a smoke pipe system usually has a smoke flow of 250 m3 per hour. The average daily activity of BBQs is about 5 hours. An average restaurant with about 20 tables (20 BBQ stores), estimate at 80% capacity of the table, will have a total smoke discharge from all BBQ stores of 20,000 m3 per day. (Research from BBQ restaurants in Vietnam)

Green ideas for Hotels & Resort

A hotel or resort consists of divisions operating together, In other to go green, we should make policies for the whole hotel and there are rules for each division with the following ideas:

Energy and Water saving

  • To reduce water use, consider using rainwater harvesting, greywater system, and/or air conditioner or refrigerant condensate for needs such as irrigation, toilet flushing, or fire suppression systems.
  • Switch to drought resistant native plants in garden areas
  • To reduce operational costs, water and energy consider installing an ozone laundry system.
  • Switch to low flow or dual flush toilets.
  • Make sure all waste-water is being properly treated either through an onsite or municipal sewage system.
  • Follow 5 ways to save water in the restaurant kitchens
  • Start a linen (both towels and sheets) reuse program in all guest rooms.
  • Switch to LED regular and tube lights in guest rooms, lobbies, and hallways.
  • Install keycard master switches or occupancy sensors in guest rooms that control lights, electronics, blinds and temperature settings.
  • Use an energy management (or building management system) to tie in air handling units, HVAC, and lighting to prevent conditioning space when it is not necessary.
  • Use daylight exclusively in your lobby, bar, and restaurant for as much of the day as possible.
  • Consider using geothermal technologies, waste heat recovery, cooling tower. Set the indoor cooling setpoint to 23° C or higher and heating setpoint to 23° C or lower and put limits on cooling and heating ranges throughout the building and guest rooms.
  • Replace old washing machines with both water and energy conserving models.
  • Install window film to lower heating and cooling loads and reduce glare in guest rooms.
  • Plant shade trees or add overhangs on south and west facing walls to reduce energy use for heating and cooling.
  • If the hotel has a pool or hot tub that requires heating, install a solar PV system and air-source heat pump.
  • In hot and sunny climates, use insulation for roofs.
  • Install an inverter equipment for exhaust fansin the kitchen.
  • Install a renewable energy system onsite.

Fume, waste disposal and recycling

  • Install fume purifier, sound absorption device on the kitchen exhaust system and fan.
  • Install grease trap in the kitchen drain.
  • Provide guest room recycling baskets for newspaper, paper, glass, aluminum, cardboard, metal and plastic.
  • Provide recycling bins in public areas, in the kitchen, and in the back office to make recycling as easy as possible.
  • Learn about local regulation and rules of hazardous waste collection ( printer cartridges,  batteries, electronics, paint, coating, …) and keep a separate bin to store these for drop off.

Food & Beverage division:

If your hotel has F & B division that runs a restaurant, consider transitioning it into a green restaurant:

  • Buy organic, locally-grown food to provide fresh produce for customers.
  • Take steps to reduce food waste.
  • Train kitchen employees to turn off ventilation hoods when the cooking appliances are off, or adjust inverter equipment for exhaust fans when reducing cooking capacity to save energy.
  • Provide reusable items such as cloth napkins, glass cups, ceramic dishes, etc. with all food and beverage services.
  • Follow 5 ways to save water in the restaurant kitchens

Garden

If your hotel has a garden, consider fllowing ideas:

  • Purchase plants that are native to your area.
  • Build a small lake with fishes, a stream.
  • Learn how to attract hummingbirds, butterflies and birds
  • Consider creating an organic food garden for the kitchen.
  • Use public solar lights.

F.O and Rooms Divisions

  • Provide local green guides, biking guides and hiking and information about the local environment and conservation efforts.
  • Provide guests bicycles, walking maps, and information on public transportation.
  • Provide glass cups and ceramic mugs (instead of plastic) for in-room beverages. Place cups and mugs upside down on paper doilies (instead of covering opening with a plastic wrapping).
  • Offer free battery charging for green vehicles.

Sales & Marketing Department

  • Get hotel certified through local or country government, or other environmental organizations. It can help promote your work.
  • Promote the hotel’s green programs to guests, online and offline.
  • Post informational posters in break rooms and guest areas as a format for communicating your green practices to your guests.
  • Offer discounted rates to environmental organizations who would like stay or hold meetings at hotel.

Back office

  • Purchasing division should create a sustainable and green purchasing policy throughout the hotel.
  • Minimize the amount of paper used in the office
  • Buy furniture that has recycled content, rapidly renewable materials, locally produced.
  • Buy office and guest amenity products that contain recycled material.
  • If offering dry cleaning services, use nontoxic, biodegradable dry cleaning solvent substitutes.
  • Buy nontoxic, biodegradable cleaning, laundry and dishwashing products
  • Buy organic, biodegradable, fair trade, locally-produced, cruelty-free guest amenity products with minimal or recycled, plastic-free packaging whenever possible.

Staff

  • Create a ‘green team’ at Hotel with the goal of continual improvement and scheduled re-evaluation and reporting.  Provide yearly staff training on green practices throughout the buildings
  • Create an incentive program to encourage staff to participate in and improve upon environmentally-friendly practices.

5 Hotels in Vienam wins ASEAN Green Hotel Standard Award 2020-2022

On January 16, 2020, the ASEAN Tourism Awards Ceremony took place in the framework of ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) in 2020 in Brunei.

For the ASEAN Green Hotel Standard Award, there are 5 hotels wins the Award in Vietnam:

  1. JW Marriot Hotel (Ha Noi – Vietnam)
  2. Victoria Hotel (Can Tho city – Vietnam)
  3. Novotel Hotel Ha Long Bay  (Quang Ninh – Vietnam)
  4. Terracotta Resort & Golf Dalat (Lam Dong – Vietnam)
  5. Four Seasons The Nam Hai (Hoi An – Vietnam)

The Palace Hotel Kota Kinabalu wins ASEAN Green Hotel Standard Award 2020-2022

BRUNEI, BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: The Palace Hotel Kota Kinabalu was one of the four
hotels in Malaysia and the only hotel in the whole of Borneo to bring home the ASEAN Green Hotel Standard Award for the year 2020-2022, held at The Empire Brunei, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei on January 16, 2020.

This award, recognised by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia, serves as a great
recognition to the 4-star Hotel for its effort to strongly promote and uphold its environmentally friendly practices throughout its premise.

The Ministry will also be awarding The Palace Hotel KK a certificate for fulfilling all basic criteria in addition to the plaque.

Its General Manager Ms. Chloe Loo expressed her appreciation and pleasure in being awarded for the second continuous time. ‘This award came at a great time and will not doubt be a motivation for all of us to produce more creative ideas to go Green.

“Our team has shown a lot of passion and drive to continue this meaningful journey where we can serve our guests and the environment with great sense of ownership,” she said.

According to her, The Palace Hotel is a Green Hotel certified by the Malaysian Government due to its Green management structure. It is also a non-smoking hotel accorded by the Ministry of Health Malaysia, with designated smoking area away from its immediate vicinity to ensure guests enjoy the cleanest air possible, and also a Litter Free hotel recognised by the Kota Kinabalu City Hall(DBKK).

Some of the basic Green practices brought out by the Hotel include the use of energy- efficient light fixtures, the conservation of rainwater, non-toxic housekeeping practices, serving of local pesticide-free food in their restaurant, and incorporating in-room recycling, reprocessing, and composting programs.

“Everything starts with a small step. We can start with the 4Rs, which are respect, reduce, reuse and recycle. We are grateful to be given this platform to reach out to the greater public on the need to live Green,’ Chloe said

“Apart from aiming to further reduce our carbon footprint, we are also working towards including more environmentally related CSR projects, for example planting more mangrove trees and visiting schools to educate children about living in a sustainable and responsible manner.”

The Palace Hotel is a 4-star Hotel under the hospitality arm of NPC Resources Berhad. The Hotel is strategically located in the heart of Kota Kinabalu city centre and although it stands majestically on a slight hill overlooking the hustle and bustle of the city, it also fully embraces the serenity provided by its tropical forest and garden in the backyard. It is an ideal location for both business and leisure travellers.-pr/BNN

Source: borneonews.net

Feature image: Agoda.com

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