UK: The Independent Hotel Show London took place this week. Sustainable Hotel News was at the show and here is a roundup of what we got up to and who we chatted with, as well as a summary of the panel “Sustainability – how on earth to make it work” moderated by editor Felicity Cousins.
The show, which takes place at London Olympia, attracts hotels, suppliers and experts in hospitality to talk, network and share ideas across two days.
Spread over two levels we headed straight to the ESG Zone where suppliers had self-audited to show their sustainability credentials. There were 15 stands in the ESG Zone including Mint Linen, British Heart Foundation, Who Give a Crap, The House of Upholstery, Ecolab, Zolb EV, Keenan Recycling and more, and at the end of this walkway was the ESG Hub.
ESG Hub
This year’s ESG Hub, was designed by Studio ATARA, and combined both sustainable design with educational activity. This was the place to be for those who wanted to talk and share sustainability stories, questions and ideas.
There was a Sustainability in Action wall, where people shared their biggest pain points and challenges around sustainability. These ranged from food waste behaviour, managing scope 3 emissions, keeping sustainability as a constant top priority, managing water waste, how to keep laundry eco and luxurious, eco packaging materials vs price and greenwashing and more…
The team at the ESG Hub expected to see people posting and prioritising initiatives but what came across was an insight into the attitudes and behaviours forming a barrier to putting sustainability into action.
The ESG Hub will use the insight to form a structured framework that will help hotels to put sustainability into action.
Grace Greensitt from the Global Sustainability Index said: “It was great to see so many people get involved in the “Sustainability in Action” activity from all areas of the hospitality industry. Not only have we gained great insight into the trends in sustainable hospitality, but we’ve also recognised the need to help businesses break down the barriers to action.”
Sarah Duncan said: “It was fascinating talking to people at the ESG Hub about Sustainability and asking them the same question: what are your pain-points (your challenges)? Although there were some very specific answers, the majority responded along the lines of ‘I’d love to do more, but ……’. It’s these barriers, such as lack of time, resources and understanding, and perceived high costs, etc, that seem to be holding people back.
“And that’s both insightful and exciting for us, because it means, once we have thoroughly reviewed the data, we can create helpful resources that ensure people can overcome these challenges and move on to tangible actions and initiatives.”
The ESG Hub was facilitated by Grace Greensitt from the Global Sustainability Index, Sarah Duncan, Author of The Sustainable Business Book, Tommie Eaton @BambuuBrush / Clean the World, and Austin Eaton from Clean the World.
Also at the Hub Sustainable Hotel News met Mark Glenister from The Burnt Chef Project, which has been helping shine the light on mental health in the hospitality industry for the last five years. Mark was there to discuss burn out and staff wellbeing, as well as how to talk about mental health at work, through a fun, but thought-provoking, game of ‘Sustainability Snap’. You can read more about The Burnt Chef Project here.
Tea Break
Felicity Cousins also sat down with Ruth Horwitz sustainability lead at JING, which supplies top end luxury hotels with responsibly sourced single-garden tea. JING achieved 95 per cent of teas in its range coming from single gardens last year and we had a long chat about how the company direct sources its tea from known producers from countries with rich tea heritage, such as Japan, Sri Lanka and China, and works with the producers to empower the community around them. JING also holds an EcoVardis 2023 Silver Medal.
“Coffee, chocolate and tea are industries which have grown over centuries and the supply chains are very complex but you have to be a sustainable organisation now – and it’s crucial to direct source the product.” said Horwitz.
We discussed how the coffee industry has over the years created a really strong story around Fairtrade and tea perhaps is a little way behind this in terms of storytelling.
JING has been part of the Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP), for 15 years. The ETP is a global membership organisation driving systemic change in the sector and Horwitz talked about how JING is Living Wage certified and its aim is to achieve this across the world, for JING producers and its people.
Often hotels have each tea bag individually wrapped and JING has developed a tea bag completely free of bio plastic and oil-based plastic. But Horwitz was also keen to share how loose tea is the ultimate luxury when it comes to drinking these delicate and sought after flavours and it’s this which JING would like to get into the rooms. As such the company has trialed two innovations to make loose leaf tea more accessible in hotel rooms and at conferences.
JING is benchmarking its carbon footprint and aims to reach net zero by 2040. You can read more about this in JING’s latest sustainability report.
“Sustainability – how on earth to make it work”
Felicity Cousins editor Sustainable Hotel News moderated a panel with Athenaeum hotel in London Kai Parfitt ESG manager, Jessica Manley, commercial director of the boutique hotel The Yan at Broadrayne along with Georgina Keighley-King operations director The Yan at Broadrayne and Sarah Duncan ESG advisor and educator at Sleeping Lion.
The panel discussed whether size matters when it comes to achieving sustainability goals – it doesn’t – both are high flyers in sustainability but have come at the challenges from different pathways. The larger property found frameworks and certifications useful while the boutique family-run hotel had to create the sustainable pathways through research and seeing every decision through a sustainability lens – and then sticking to it.
Key takeaways included:
Having a GM who is engaged in sustainability means the whole hotel will follow;
Certifications are great and can communicate to your guests what you are but don’t do it for the sake of it – it’s a lot of work. Choose wisely;
Don’t be afraid to talk about what you are doing and the positive changes you are making. As long as you are truthful, authentic and the facts are right you can shout about your sustainability wins!;
Make time for sustainability – this might be hard but once you have started it will become part of the day, week, month of operation;
Believe in yourself and what you are standing for – it’s the right thing to do;
If you don’t feel your hotel is big enough for a dedicated ESG manager then create sustainability champions – make sure they are genuinely interested in the topic and they will be a great asset;
There is help out there from councils, local government, hotel groups, sustainability groups – research, join in, talk and share;
Just begin – it’s overwhelming but the sooner you begin the sooner you can benchmark and see the progress;
Every step is a step closer to achieving your sustainability goals.
Image: Matthew Parsons