Bar Harbor Grand Hotel
Sustainability Initiatives

Mission Statement

Our sustainability committee seeks to strengthen environmental stewardship and sustainability practices companywide by implementing relevant programs and policies across the Witham Family Hotels portfolio. Through education, collaboration, and support we strive to make impactful changes towards an environmentally sound future for our local and global community.

Maine environmental leader logo

Coffee & Food Service

The volume of single-use coffee creamers, plastic stirrers, and other individual serving size packets has been reduced by moving to insulated creamer carafes, bamboo stirrers, bulk packages of ketchup and other condiments. We have also limited single-use plasticware waste by switching to compostable options. Reduction of single-use items will continue as we provide the utmost care for our guests and our environment.

The Result

Reduced waste of over 180,000 single-use food service items through the use of reusable and bulk service items annually.

In-Room Amenities

We have replaced single-use guest bathroom amenities with sleek dispensers filled with Bath & Body Works products, offering you top quality products without added waste.

The Result

Elimination of over 65,000 single-use plastic containers being sent to the landfill each year.

Low Light - Dark Skies

Acadia National Park offers a large swath of untouched dark sky and while not yet certified by the International Dark Sky Association, we support the beauty of the night sky by using the bare minimum of exterior lighting with low lux fixtures.

The Result

While still a work in progress, we strive to reduce our light pollution each time we install new lighting and are actively working to replace bright light fixtures.

Water Bottle Refill Stations

Single-use plastic water bottles are one of the largest sources of plastic pollution in the world. To reduce reliance on these single-use items, we have installed multiple water bottle refill stations. This makes filling up your water bottle convenient before a hike or when arriving back to the hotel from adventure. Curious about our water quality? Read Bar Harbor’s Annual Water Quality Report.

The Result

The Result: Elimination of over 30,000 single-use water bottles being sent to the landfill each year.

ENERGY EFFICIENT HEAT PUMPS

New, energy efficient heat pumps have been installed in all of our rooms with the final units being installed over the winter of 2022-2023.

The Result: These new units will provide heating and cooling in the rooms with an increase of efficiency greater than 40% our previous units.

Community Service

As a company, we understand that we are only a portion of the larger community where we live, work, and conduct business. Each year our team volunteers their time for local programs including Witham Family Hotels Charitable Christmas and the Friends of Acadia Annual Roadside Cleanup Day.

The Result

Hundreds of hours of service invested in our community each year.