Oakwood Premier Melbourne is taking an environmentally-friendly approach to the festive season with the use of sustainable Christmas decorations in place of artificial ones this year.
The hotel challenged its internal engineering team to create a fully sustainable Christmas tree and giant charity gift box using only existing or reclaimed materials from the hotel and surrounding local area.
Using an old cable drum donated from a local neighbourhood electrical wholesaler to create the tree’s base, the team then added a pole made from a combination of an old sprinkler pipe and a 10mm threaded rod in the middle to hold the structure together.
Wooden pallets that had been thrown out were cut to size and sanded down before being arranged individually into a spiral shape.
To top it off, a star was made using aluminium sheeting leftover from the renovation of reception desks, and the base was covered with hessian and burlap material from an old coffee sack.
The fully sustainable Christmas tree stands at 2670mm tall beside a giant gift box made from wood stripped from old pallets sourced from the hotel and neighbouring shops.
Here, hotel guests can make gift card or monetary donations to local charity partner, Lighthouse Foundation.
“Oakwood Premier Melbourne is always striving to do better, setting ambitious but achievable goals when it comes to the environment,” said Oakwood Premier Melbourne General Manager, Mathias Waas.
“Earlier this year, we discontinued providing straws and plastic water bottles in the hotel. In addition to this, all coffee cups on property were changed to an environmentally friendly, recyclable option.
“Our decision to create a Christmas tree and charity gift box made from 100% recycled, eco-friendly material builds on this commitment to sustainability, and we hope our guests will enjoy what we’ve created – the gift of giving back to the planet and showing that small actions and good intentions can make a big impact.”