Sustainability

  • Our Environmental Initiatives

    At Babel Hotels, we believe that travel should protect the places we visit. We work hard to minimize our footprint in Siem Reap by reducing waste, supporting local partners, and educating our team.

    Reducing Plastic Waste

    We believe small changes create a big impact. We have replaced single-use plastics with sustainable alternatives throughout our properties:

    • Bamboo Straws: We saved over 13,000 plastic straws from the environment last year.

    • Refill Stations: We provide free water refills to help prevent the millions of plastic bottles discarded in Cambodia every month.

    • Refillable Amenities: You will find local, eco-friendly soap from Kambio Nature in refillable dispensers, eliminating the need for plastic-wrapped bars.

    • Biodegradable Bags: We use eco-friendly bags from Cleanbodia and source compostable take-away boxes , cutlery and coffee cups.

    Recycling & Circular Economy

    We turn waste into resources by partnering with local organizations:

    • Plastic Recycling: We send our soft plastic to HUSK Cambodia, which uses it to build durable housing and school walls.

    • Glass Recycling: Siem Reap generates approximately 9 tons of glass waste every day. To help reduce this, we partner with GAEA, which operates Cambodia’s first glass-to-sand recycling project. We send our empty glass bottles to them to be repurposed into sand.

    • Reuse Programs: We return used beer bottles and kefir bottles directly to the suppliers. By sending these back for cleaning and reuse, we eliminate waste before it is even created.

    • Circular Eco-Shop: We collect glass jars and reusable plastic containers in our Babel Eco-shop, offering them for free to guests who need them for refills.

    • Second-Life Program: We believe that many items have a "second life" before they reach the landfill. We regularly offer items we no longer need—such as empty paint buckets, tarps, and furniture—to our staff and Tuk Tuk drivers. This extends the life of these goods and directly supports our team.

    • Paper & Print: We recycle all paper and used newspapers from our restaurants and shop.

    • Community Cleanup: We regularly host garbage-picking events to clean the streets and raise awareness in our neighborhood.

    Sustainable Sourcing & Operations

    • Local First: To lower our carbon footprint, we prioritize sourcing everything locally—from room decor to food and drinks.

    • Food Waste: All food scraps are given to a local family to feed their pigs.

    • Future Partnerships: We are constantly looking for new ways to reduce our impact. While past projects like Rehash Trash and Naga Earth provided great support before they closed, we are actively searching for new local partners to help us manage waste and biofuels.

    Our Greatest Asset: Education

    Sustainability is part of the Babel Philosophy. We provide regular workshops for our staff and Tuk Tuk drivers to learn about Cambodia’s litter challenges and how we can work together to solve them.

    How You Can Help: We invite all our guests to join our mission. Inside your room, you will find simple tips on how to reduce your plastic use while traveling. We also encourage you to visit our Babel Eco-shop to support local, sustainable products.