TSA: ‘Pasha’nate about reducing lost and stolen linen

UK
The Textile Services Association (TSA has launched simple-to-understand video guides in an effort to help reduce lost and damaged linen. Every year the hotel industry loses more than 12.5 million pieces of linen, which equates to 61% of the total stock of linen and towelling.  It’s not just a massive cost, but also a real blow to the industry’s sustainability targets. Now the TSA, in association with UKHospitality and the UK Housekeeping Association, has created two simple videos designed to train staff about the importance of looking after linen – and the environmental impact of wasting it.  The video tells the life story of Pasha the Pillowcase, including how hotel linen is made, how to take care of it, and how looking after it enhances sustainability as well as saving money.

It's not just the linen itself that is wasted.  Replacing the 12.5 million lost pieces of linen with freshly made fibres generates 39,000 tonnes of carbon.  Growing the cotton consumes vast amounts of water – the equivalent of 937 million bathtubs full!  That’s enough for every person in the UK to have 14 baths. 

“These are huge figures,” says David Stevens, CEO of the TSA.  “If we are to meet net zero targets we need to find ways to lengthen the lifespan of these textiles.”

This is why the TSA decided to tell the tale of Pasha the Pillowcase, which explains the entire life cycle of linen in a fun, easy to understand form and provides simple tips about how to handle linen – and how not to handle it – in order to ensure that it has as long a working life as possible. Two videos are available, one focused on hotel staff and the second for laundry staff.

The story is told using simple yet clear graphics and a voiceover, allowing staff who might be less confident in reading English to easily understand and grasp the concepts it conveys.

Pasha was launched at the TSA Autumn Conference at a session led by Rona Tait from TDS Commercial and Nigel Graham from Bourne Leisure.

“I’m very proud to be part of the work the TSA, the wider laundry industry, UKHospitality and the UK Housekeeping Association have done to produce Pasha and the training information,” said Rona. “I look forward to working with housekeeping, hotel and laundry teams to get the message over that we all need to play our part in making sure linen gets to the end of its life.”

David Stevens commented: “We are very excited at how our partnerships are developing, not only with UKHospitality and the UK Housekeepers Association, but also with major hotel and leisure groups.  Together we can make a real impact in terms of sustainability.

“Pasha is a simple and fun way to share knowledge and raise awareness of staff in both the laundry and hospitality sectors.  The video explains how even small changes in behaviour can have significant effects.  It’s been designed to be easy to incorporate into existing training programmes.”

Pasha is part of a portfolio of resources aimed at educating both the hospitality and the laundry industry about the importance of looking after textiles and making linen last longer.  Anyone interested in getting to know Pasha can watch the videos and find the other materials on the TSA’s website, by clicking on the hospitality section within the document library.