The hotel is equipped with a smart water dispenser

The hotel is equipped with a smart water dispenser.

In recent years, Hong Kong people have emphasized “going plastic” and are committed to promoting the reduction of the use of plastic bottles. The local social enterprise, Urban Spring, launched its self-developed smart water station “Well Well” in 2017, just one last year. The number of water stations in the market has surged from about 10 to 182, and the coverage has expanded from shopping malls, schools and non-profit organizations to hotels and outdoor areas. In the 6 hotels owned by Xinhe Hotel (1221), nearly 100 Tianshui Stations have been installed. In the past two months, 127,000 plastic bottles have been reduced, which will save 1.6 million plastic bottles throughout the year.

Guests add water as needed to reduce water consumption

Ye Chun, the chief executive of Chengquan, said that he was surprised to find that the smart water station “Well Well” was able to enter the hotel, because the residents have developed the habit of bottled water supply when they check in, and believe that the hotel group is willing to make changes for the environment. A good thing, the most important thing is that the water station can use the data to explain the acceptance of the change by the residents, actually reducing the waste of plastic bottles and making the environmental protection quantifiable.

The 6 hotels of Sino-Shenzhen have installed Tianshui Station at the end of November last year and provided glass bottles instead of bottled water in the room. The letter and hotel reply said that the accumulated water supply in the past two months was equivalent to 127,000 500 ml of plastic bottled water. At the same time, after changing to the Tin Shui Station, the residents added water as needed, which also reduced the water consumption. The user response and feedback were very positive. Xinhe Hotel expects that Tianshui Station will save 1.6 million plastic bottles per year for the group, and the newly opened hotels will also install water dispensers to implement environmental protection commitments.

Swire Properties has not invested, has been a partner first.

City Spring originally cooperated with Hysan (0014), hoping to enter the school through the Li Xi Shen Fund to promote environmental protection to the next generation; and to cooperate with Xinhe to try to change the hotel guest habits. Ye Hao loves to use “partners” rather than “customers” to call them. “We don’t just provide suppliers of products, we provide the belief and spirit of environmental protection.” She bluntly said that after cooperation with large organizations, the company did I received a lot of inquiries, but I also dropped a lot. Because there is no common idea, the other party rents a water dispenser at most, just to find a place to place, no help to reduce plastic, this business would rather not do, and will not last.

However, in addition to the concept, we must also pay attention to the bread. City Spring has invested more than 10 million yuan, and the annual income of the rental water station is only close to 7 digits. Although the founder promised that the company’s funds for the next three to five years are not a problem, but the company is not a problem, but Ye Hao said frankly that he could not “drill the well”, so he had considered external financing matters last year. Under the opportunity, Chengquan had a communication with New Ventures, a technology development and innovation fund under Swire Properties (1972). For the sake of better experience, Swire Properties did not act as an investor before, and first made a partner of Chengquan, in late last year. Installed the Water Station in its Citygate, and the Taikoo White Market held at Sugar Factory Street during Christmas. City Spring also dispatched a mobile water station to provide outdoor free water service.

For this year’s development, Ye Hao pointed out that there is a water dispenser project for bidding for the Agriculture and Fisheries Department Country Park. I hope that more outdoor water supply sites can be developed. This year, it is more likely to enter the Singapore market. The number of water stations is increased to 300.