Eco Commitment

Our promise at The Fern Hotels & Resorts is a premium standard of amenities and service with a true passion for the environment. A living thing, the fern is a perennial plant, retaining a rare consistency and many of it best characteristics over millions of years. It is an epitome of pedigree flora and it aptly represents us.In a world where guests require proactive, individualized service, The Fern delivers much more. Luxury with elegance and personalized service, and all the contemporary facilities packaged together with minimal impact on the environment.COMMITMENT TO YOUAs hoteliers, creating the best experience for you is paramount. We have maintained this commitment and we thank you for responding positively by actively taking part in our initiatives. We have successfully demonstrated that environment initiatives do not need to compromise your experience.With the initial goal of acceptance achieved, we are focusing on the next level 'responsibility', by initiating a more participative experience for you through new programmes.

Green Button

An innovation by The Fern, the Green Button is a guest interaction initiative unique to us. It is widely acknowledged as the best marriage of reducing carbon emissions with guest support and no decline in experience in anyway.TheGreen Buttonis a special feature on the bedside control panel*. The single push of the button gives you the ability to make an immediate and immense contribution to the environment by reducing power consumption. A certificate is shared with you at checkout.*In some hotels only

Green Team

This is a special group of people, all volunteers from the staff body. TheGreen Teamis the driving force of our environment initiatives at each property. The team initiates and monitors all environment initiatives done in-house. TheGreen Teamempowers the staff far beyond the propertys set-up. Professional hierarchy is also set-aside in this unique team.The success of theGreen Teamcan be gauged from the guests and staff members who have taken our green message in to their own lives and personal groups.

Advanced Locality Management

The Fern is aware of the impact a hotel or resort has on its environment and its people, both internal staff and guests as well outside, on the community. Each The Fern property is an active member in its locality. Community initiatives, often led by theGreen Team, range from working alongside local administrators and residents in planning infrastructure projects to outreach projects in schools and cleanliness drives.Working with the community allows the team to learn new skills while sharing its knowledge in exchange. These participative initiatives always lead to better results for the community.

Green Time

Every so often, we invite guests, staff and local community members others to participate in an extension of the Earth Hour. We meet in candlelight as the hotels electric lights are shut off for a 15 min long session. The response has been fabulous and the programme continues to evolve.Led by the general manager, we share our green tips and initiatives and welcome your experiences of green travel and practices. Listening to you is important to us and your feedback often makes it in our operations.Guest experience and participation is central to our message at The Fern.

Eco FeaturesAyurvedic toiletriesCloth bags are used in place of plasticshoppingbagsEco-friendly baskets are used for your laundry newspapers and laundryWater-friendly tap and flushes that save 50% of waterPlastic hangers are replaced with pressed particleboard hangersPens and pencils made from virgin wood are replaced with those from recycled cardboard, reprocessed plastic and scrap woodAll stationary is either handmade or made from recycled paperYour complimentary in-room slippers are handcrafted with rubber sole or juteNo flowers are cut for decoration. Instead, potted plants are used to decorate the room and keep it greenRooms are provided with recycle bins for guests to deposit recyclable material

The Pledge

Each member of The Fern family, from the Chairman to the entire staff body, takes a pledge to adhere to and further the commitment to the environment."Being a team member of an environment sensitive group, I pledge to protect and enhance the environment including all its resources by encouraging and implementing the concepts of reduce, reuse and recycle. I will manage my share of resources with maximum efficiency. I pledge to form an educated opinion and to make responsible choices. I pledge to make a difference."Led by the Green Team, environment sensitization has become a significant part of the training programme.Green globesOur environmental policy is based on the four globes derived from our planets most venerable elements; water, air, land, people.

WaterWater is that rare resource which can be recycled indefinitely. Our water management therefore embodies the 3 Rs. We first reduce as much as we can and then recycle it to make it reusable, which further reduces our need to take new water from the local system.

ManagementWe reduce our water consumption by monitoring everything about its use. Sub-meters installed in every area provide precise reports on how water is used. Treating it as an asset, each department is responsible for its usage and rewarded for the savings made. Its surprisingly simple.Well be happy to show you how it done. Please ask your hotels manager for a tour.Guest ProgrammesYou are invited to join us in reducing up to 16 litres of water a day when you stay with us by choosing to reuse your linen and towels for the next day.TheSave My Planetcard, when kept on the bed, lets the housekeeper know you too agree its wasteful to change the bed linen daily. Thank you for doing this as it saves at least 16 litres of water per bed.The same for your bath towels. Well replace your bath towels only if kept in the laundry basket o the floor. Keeping it on the rack lets us know its good enough to use again. Thank you for doing this as it saves around 10 litres of water per room.Eliminating ChemicalsPopular cleaning agents and additives to water have a long-term negative effect on the environment. We have minimized their use and continue to invest in newer technology that eliminates the harmful chemicals altogether. The cleaning chemicals used by our hotels are the new generation, certified, eco-labelled products.Aerator & Flow RestrictorsAll taps contain special aerators, which increase the water force and reduce outflow, saving water. Using these aerators saves up to 50% of water. Further still, the taps are placed at a 30o angle, which reduces flow rate while the aerator is set to medium.Dual FlushThe dual flush system in the guest bathroom saves up to 70% of water per use by giving you the choice. The average hotel flush consumes 10 litres per use. Our upper flush uses 3litres while the lower flush uses 7 litres.Sewage Treatment PlantWe actively treat the waste water to reduce the tremendous burden a hotels sewage puts on the local environment and system. Sewage or black water is treated and cleansed to improve it to grey quality i.e. usable for gardening and outdoor cleaning. Bathroom water is termed as white. Water suitable for drinking is called portable water.Grey water is used for all outdoor areas except the water fountains as that will deteriorate the quality of the granite.

LandThe group bears witness to what we have done long, long after its done. So, maintaining a good equilibrium of we return to the land is important to us.

Waste ManagementWhile waste management is last mile of a regular supply chain, for us it defines what we buy and use so as to waste as little as possible. We have detailed waste management that includes;The 3 RsThe basis of our waste management policy is the 3 simple Rs i.e. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. As an example of 'Reduce' we avoid the default use of plastic straws, paper napkins, plastic cling wrap etc. These are available at our hotels, though like fruits, are provided only on request.4 BinsSegregation is essential to reusing is, so all garbage is segregated into 4 colour-coded bins.Green Bin: For recyclable waste;Red Bin: For non-recyclable waste;White Bin: For dry garbage, and theBlack Bin: For wet garbage. We even have two bins in every guest room to segregate at source.Vermicomposting Composting pits are maintained at the hotel that decompose all wet waste in to manure. This is then used invarious gardens both in and outside the hotel. Each year, we decompose over 200 tons of waste.These are just a few of our waste management processes. Today we have been able to keep up to 99.7% of our waste out of landfills in some hotels; we aim for a 100% across all our hotels. And whats, more this achievement is externally certified.

AirWe use extensive energy management to reduce the burden we place on the atmosphere. Hotels have historically been one of the highest consumers of energy. With extensive public spaces and 24x7 temperature control, the energy consumed is on an industrial scale. We at The Fern have created a few basis steps to we both guide and lead the industry in reducing energy consumption. This along with our other measures has won us over 25 awards in the short span of 4 years.ArchitectureWe follow a scheme of Passive Solar Architecture, an approach where we use the architecture of the building to protect against heat and allow for the natural light. For e.g. we use double-glazed windows which keep the heat and exterior sound out of hotel. Similarly, investments in insulated roofs keep the heat out and reduce the energy consumed for air-conditioning.STL TanksOur air-conditioning systems are linked to STL tanks (Stored Thermal Latent) which store the excess cooling generated. These then take over the cooling of the hotel during off-peak hours. Its a productive way to utilise excess energy which would have unfortunately been wasted. This is becoming an industry-standard.Hot WaterIn centrally cooled buildings, hot water is a by-product of the generators used to create the cool air. Thankfully, hotels have a need for hot water. So through a novel process, the heat generated by the air-conditioning is captured and used to heat all our hot water needs.