At The Opposite House, we’ve joined Nespresso’s B2B capsule recycling programme. Used coffee capsules from our House are processed for recycling and the aluminium is reused while the spent coffee grounds find a second life as organic fertiliser at Nespresso’s partner farm.

Wake up to coffee that’s good for the earth. At EAST Beijing, our fair trade and organic certified coffee beans are part of Arabica’s Sustainable Coffee Series, which incorporates the ideals of sustainable agriculture, purchasing, roasting, packaging and future (education). Produced by ASOBAGRI women’s co-op in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, the coffee is made using renewable solar energy and its eco-friendly packaging is biodegradable, reducing pollution and carbon emissions.

At The Opposite House and East Hong Kong, we’re using the innovative closed-loop system ecoSPIRITS to minimise single-use materials in spirits packaging and reduce carbon emissions at our bars. At The Opposite House’s Union, we’ve saved roughly 35 bottles per month which would typically be thrown away.  

More often than not, renovation means brand new everything. But at our newly refreshed central support office, we've made sustainability the priority. Green initiatives feature throughout, including ceiling tiles upcycled into the open office area, LED lights in all fixtures and our former conference room table repurposed into wall finish. 

Oyster reefs are crucial to coastal protection and supporting marine ecosystems. But, they are also the most endangered marine habitat on the planet.
Together with The Nature Conservancy, we are collecting oyster shells from our restaurants FEAST at EAST Hong Kong and Salisterra at The Upper House, with more than 900kg to contribute to reef restoration in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area.

The environmental impact of food waste is huge. At EAST Hong Kong and The Temple House, all kitchen waste is sorted and we utilise ORCA technology to turn up to 270kg of food waste daily into an eco-friendly liquid that can go down the drain instead of into the landfill, helping to reduce our carbon footprint. 

Even something as small as a key can make an impact. We’ve gone greener by transitioning from plastic to wooden room key cards at our two EAST hotels and three Houses in Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai, with The Opposite House featuring a bamboo version. 

In 2021, we started the Go Green Program at EAST Miami. By adding daily credit as an incentive, the programme encourages overnight guests to reduce linen and towel changes. This has greatly cut back the amount of water and detergent for linen laundry as well as significantly decreased the need for laundry transportation, which means fewer harmful emissions.

Bao Beer is the latest sustainability project by the Sugar team at EAST Hong Kong. Using surplus bread from our hotel, the rooftop bar and lounge worked in collaboration with local brewery H.K. Lovecraft to transform it into 2,000 litres of beer. This zero-waste initiative saved over 35 kilos of bread while the spent breadcrumbs and grains were donated to a nearby farm for use as animal feed and fertiliser. 

Millions of trees are cut down every year for disposable coffee cups. We’re doing our small part to change that. At EAST Hong Kong, Domain offers the reusable HuskeeCup, made from an eco-composite polymer featuring coffee husks, while at EAST Beijing and The Temple House, coffee drinkers can opt for a branded reusable cup made of made of bamboo powder, rich hush, crop straw and other natural plant fibres. 

Water Conservation

Water is one of our planet's most precious natural resources. We're committed to reducing our consumption, and these are some of the ways we're doing it.

The Temple Café, TIVANO and Mi Xun Tea House at The Temple House received the "Three Leaf Award", Swire Properties' Green Kitchen Initiative, for its sustainable renovation decisions, including installation of water economisers on all water taps and LEED-CI standard water saving dish washing machines to reduce water usage.

Every drop matters. At EAST Miami, we collect rainwater in a cistern tank and use it to refill the cooling towers and to irrigate our property. It may be a small action but it has double the impact, reducing the consumption of both water and energy.

At The Upper House, we’ve outfitted all the guest rooms with a water filtration system to purify local tap water on-site, making it safe for guests to enjoy whilst reducing our carbon footprint. From September to December 2021, we saved over 7,000 bottles of water, which amounts to a 70% reduction in consumption since the launch of this initiative.

Water conservation is important in every aspect of our hotels. At The Temple House, The Opposite House and The Middle House, we’ve replaced the kitchens’ faucet aerators with higher flow rate models to decrease water usage, resulting in an annual reduction of 3,000m³, 2,400m³ and 120m³ respectively.

Across all EAST properties, we’ve fitted flow controllers onto guest room water taps and showers. At EAST Hong Kong, for example, this has meant an estimated average of 1,040 liters of water saved daily.

Say bye to bottles. Instead of bottled water, we’ve placed filtered drinking water systems in all our guest rooms at EAST hotels for a cleaner, more sustainable experience.

Energy conservation

Energy conservation is key in lessening our carbon footprint. Here are the steps we're taking towards making a difference.

Every little bit helps when it comes to making positive changes. Our restaurants have been reducing energy through Swire Properties’ Green Kitchen Initiatives, a platform to reduce energy and water usage and improve air quality and waste management to enhance sustainability.  The Green Kitchen Awards celebrate venues making a noticeable impact – and we’re delighted that some of our restaurants were awarded the highest “Three Leaf Rating” last year. 

We designed The Middle House to reduce our carbon footprint. We use reclaimed water system for toilet flushing, solar hot water in the kitchen and LED lamps throughout our House. Beyond just removing plastic straws and stirrers in all our restaurants and bars, we also worked closely with the property management to launch a waste-recycling program in the complex, helping to generate renewable electricity.

At EAST Hong Kong, lighting is automatically switched off when guestrooms are empty and the temperature is kept at a standard level. In the lobby and restaurants, dimming systems offer atmospheric lighting with less power consumption and from 11pm-6am, our gym BEAST uses motion sensors to turn off the lights and TV when unoccupied. Plus, the hotel’s decorative outdoor lighting is only on from 5:30pm to 10:45pm each day.

Part of our journey towards sustainability is raising awareness of climate change and nature loss. This year, we marked Earth Hour across our properties. At The Upper House, we switched off our lights in public areas and swapped in candlelight, while at The Temple House, busy urbanites and in-house guests gathered for a singing bowl healing session in support of environmental protection. EAST properties also participated by turning off the façade and other non-essential lighting.

Between June and September 2021, The Upper House's Engineering team replaced 1,532 xelogen festoon lamps with more sustainable, energy-saving LED lighting in the guest floor corridors. This small action will result in an annual saving of 33,551 kilowatt hours.

Science meets art in EAST Miami's most eye-catching eco-feature, a sculptural Climate Ribbon canopy that soars above the outdoor spaces. This ultra-cool feature traps sea winds, lowers temperatures and collects rainwater for re-use; creating a pleasant microclimate that reduces the need for air conditioning.

Waste Management

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Waste management is our priority and we are actively thinking of new approaches to tackle this challenge.

We have introduced carefully designed tech-enabled improvements in guestrooms and restaurants across all properties in Hong Kong. By scanning a QR code in the room, an extensive range of services are only a few taps away on the integrated app StayPlease. With digital menus launched at both EAST Hong Kong and EAST Miami, diners can now enjoy a paperless dining experience while making more responsible choices for the environment.

As part of our effort to work more sustainably, we partnered with NFC Touch to introduce "smart" business cards that are reusable, replacing paper cards. The NFC-enabled business card allows our team to transfer information directly with a simple tap, saving paper and making it hassle-free for our guests and partners to stay in touch with us.

Last year, The House Collective launched its first-ever mooncake box set that was designed to not only look good but be practical for upcycling uses. Made using sustainable FSC-certified wood and crafted using eco-friendly carpentry techniques that minimise waste, the box also included mini boxes made from recycled paper.

Since 2018, The House Collective has partnered with wellness brand Bamford to supply its in-room amenities which were designed with aluminum tubes. 100% recyclable, the packaging helps reducing the amount of plastic consumption by over 3000kg.

Salisterra at The Upper House has installed an in-house water filtration system from Belu, a UK-based social enterprise. For a nominal charge, guests can enjoy unlimited still or sparkling water, helping to reduce the carbon footprint of single-use bottles. Social impact is also created, with 100% Belu's profits given to global water charity Water Aid, to help bring clean water to communities worldwide.