ecotourism

New partnership to reduce food waste is launched by Radisson Hotel Group and Too Good To Go

A new partnership to implement positive actions and fight climate change is announced by one of the world’s leading hotel groups - Radisson Hotel Group, with mobile application Too Good To Go in Europe, which connects consumers and restaurants with unsold leftover food.

Too Good To Go is the #1 anti-food waste app as they state that every year, they are on a mission to reduce the food that typically goes to waste as this surplus food also contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, Too Good To Go operates solely in Europe, thus the Radisson Hotel Group hotels in Europe contribute towards fighting against food waste and the negative impact that it comes with on the environment and other resources.

A large amount of food is wasted for numerous reasons throughout the world, from individuals over-ordering and restaurants over-preparing. The new partnership can work alongside the Hotel Groups current aim regarding responsible consumption as their current measures include portion control and enhanced storage for food to encourage food preservation.

The consumer can download the free app and purchase surplus food at a set discounted price. This allows both parties to support conserving the environment through lessening food, energy, and water waste. The destinations involved include but are not limited to Austria, Denmark, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, France, the Netherlands, and Spain. These destinations will be able to provide additional food for their local community.

From its commencement, it has been reported that Radisson Hotel Group has prevented 15,367 meals from being wasted, which tallies to a CO² decline of 37.6 tons.

Mette Lykke, Chief Executive Officer of Too Good To Go says: “The latest figures on global food waste from the WWF have discovered the problem to be even higher than previously believed, with 40% of all food going to waste. We need to address this urgently to avoid going backwards on progress we’ve made in recent years. It is through partnerships like this that businesses can make an impact at scale, which we absolutely have a responsibility to do, on the complicated issue of food waste.” 

Inge Huijbrechts, Global Senior Vice President Sustainability, Security and Corporate Communications at Radisson Hotel Group said: “In light of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, we are thrilled to announce our partnership with Too Good To Go. It strengthens our positive impact and is fully aligned with our sustainability goals, including setting science-based emissions reduction targets This strong partnership across Europe highlights the importance of tackling food waste in reaching the UN’s goal of SDG 12.3, to cut global food waste in half by 2030.”

Green Key launches first online course on FEE Academy

As part of the Foundation for Environmental Education’s eLearning platform FEE Academy, Green Key launches its first online course that introduces the programme.

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Ever wondered how the Green Key programme has been developed, how the award process works or what the benefits of the programme are?  In our new online course, you will learn all of this - and more!  

The course is designed for tourism establishments that want to apply for Green Key, for staff in awarded establishments that need an introduction to the programme, and for basically anyone who is interested in Green Key.  

It is part of the FEE Academy, an online platform that offers courses which are connected to the Foundation for Environmental Education and its five programmes. To enroll in any of the courses, you will need to create an account. Taking the Green Key Introduction Course is of course free of charge. Once enrolled, you have one month to complete the course.  

The Green Key Introduction Course is only the first of a series of courses that Green Key is planning to offer. If you would like to stay up to date on our available courses, sign up for our newsletter or follow us on Social Media Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Green Key launches new campaign #UnlockTomorrow

Green Key International is launching a new Social Media campaign to celebrate establishments that joined the programme in 2020 despite the challenges of the pandemic, and to highlight the importance of rethinking the future of tourism and building back better. Each week, we will showcase a new establishment.

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2020 was a truly challenging year for the worldwide tourism industry. From the smallest B&B to the biggest tour operator, everyone in the tourism sector was in the grip of the global COVID-19 pandemic. And although 2021 has started just as gloomy, the long-awaited vaccine gives hope that the tourism industry could soon breathe a sigh of relief.

While humankind was facing many challenges due to the pandemic, the environment got a much-needed break from our activities. From crystal clear waters in the canals of Venice to a boost in numbers of rare sea turtles in Thailand, there were plenty of stories about nature taking back her space all around the world.

When looking at tourism destinations as a whole, we also realised how important it is to maintain the diversity of social, economic and cultural activities for destinations to be more resilient and provide a better support system for local communities. Several Green Key awarded establishments showed their solidarity in these difficult times by donating food to charities and opening their doors to accommodate homeless people or healthcare workers that needed to isolate.

To ensure that these stories are not forgotten as past anecdotes of this historic event, it is now our responsibility to build on the lessons learned and ensure that we resume tourism activities with consideration for local communities and the environment.

Many establishments realised this early in the pandemic and decided to prepare themselves for the future by joining the Green Key programme and working towards meeting the criteria for the award.

While in the past pursuing a sustainability label like Green Key may have been considered an initiative for a niche segment of the tourism sector, nowadays establishments see sustainability labels as a tool to adapt to our changing world and become more sustainable and resilient for the future.

To acknowledge the efforts our newcomers made despite the challenges they faced during the pandemic, and to inspire others to start their sustainability journey towards a better tomorrow, over the course of the next weeks we will showcase Green Key awarded establishments that joined our programme in 2020.

We are kicking off this campaign with the Landal Resort Maria Alm in Austria which joined the Green Key programme in September 2020. The apartments in the resort are entirely heated through the local biomass power stations and the hotel's own hydroelectric power plant. Besides the hydroelectric power station, the resort also focuses on raising awareness and educating guests about the adequate separation of waste. For this purpose, eleven waste rooms with more than 80 waste bins, divided among ten houses, guarantee a smooth and proper waste separation.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to see all featured establishments in this campaign!

First Green Key awarded hotel in Ethiopia

The Radisson Blu Hotel, Addis Ababa is the first Green Key awarded establishment in Ethiopia, raising the number of participating countries to 58!

Copyright Radisson Blu Hotel, Addis Ababa

Copyright Radisson Blu Hotel, Addis Ababa

Radisson Blu Hotel in Addis Ababa is centrally located within Ethiopia’s capital city—adjacent to the United Nations Compound and 6 kilometers from Bole International Airport. The hotel is also a short distance from the city’s main points of interest, such as the Imperial Palace, Meskel Square and Holy Trinity Cathedral.

The hotel has many great social and environmental initiatives such as donating unused linen and clothes to an orphanage, supporting a retirement home and engaging guests in tree planting activities. Furthermore, over 95% of the food and beverages in the hotel are locally sourced.

Learn more about the hotel here

Copyright Radisson Blu Hotel, Addis Ababa

Copyright Radisson Blu Hotel, Addis Ababa

Copyright Radisson Blu Hotel, Addis Ababa

Copyright Radisson Blu Hotel, Addis Ababa

The Radisson Blu Hotel, Kyiv Podil creates art with plastic straws

The Radisson Blu Hotel in Kyiv-Podil, Ukraine has found a creative way for reusing their unused plastic straws by creating a work of art.

Copyright: Radisson Blu Hotel, Kyiv-Podil

Copyright: Radisson Blu Hotel, Kyiv-Podil

When implementing Radisson Hotel Group’s campaign #RefusetheStraw the hotel wondered what they could do with the unused plastic straws that they had left in stock.

Instead of throwing them in the recycling bin, they found a local artist who created a sculpture of a seabird out of the straws. The original piece of art is now displayed in the lobby of the hotel to raise awareness on plastic pollution.

Mostly birds and sea animals suffer from plastics - they perceive it as a food, eat it, and die in terrible agony. Moreover, many birds are already on the verge of extinction and are included in the red book. It is a symbol of freedom, hope, new life, which must be protected.

- The Radisson Blu Hotel, Kyiv-Podil

Copyright: Radisson Blu Hotel, Kyiv-Podil

Copyright: Radisson Blu Hotel, Kyiv-Podil

Copyright: Radisson Blu Hotel, Kyiv-Podil

Copyright: Radisson Blu Hotel, Kyiv-Podil

Miskin Manor – a historical hotel with a green twist

Miskin Manor Country Hotel in Wales has been awarded with the Green Key for its work on introducing high sustainability standards in a historical manor without compromising the exclusive feeling of the establishment.

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Miskin Manor Country Hotel has a rich history stretching back to the 10th century. Since 1996, the place has been a carefully restored family-run hotel with attention to details in respect of the heritage of the building, surrounding garden and landscape. Today, Miskin Manor Country Hotel is a four-star hotel with 42 unique bedrooms, an award winning restaurant and 25 acres of beautiful garden surrounding the establishment.

Miskin Manor Country Hotel has recently been awarded with the Green Key as the first hotel in South East Wales due to its work with its sustainability performance. The light bulbs have been changed to LED light, the water flow in taps and showers are reduced, the restaurant has a focus on products that are locally produced and the environmental work is communicated to guests in an environmental corner by the lobby.

As a family we have always worked towards helping our environment for now and the future. It is wonderful that we now have recognition for the effort we are making and we will strive to maintain and improve.  Amongst many things we grow some of our own produce on site, produce water from our own borehole, keep bees and produce honey on site, installed energy efficient lighting throughout the hotel and recycle our waste. It is hoped that other business owners will join us in achieving Green Key throughout Wales.” - Amanda Rosenberg, Managing Director at Miskin Manor.

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Nick Ashby, Welsh Green Key coordinator says: “We are proud to have Miskin Manor Country Hotel awarded with Green Key for its balance between history, luxury and sustainability”.

For more information about Miskin Manor Country Hotel, please visit their website.

Green Key's application process explained step by step in our new video!

Ever wondered how the Green Key application process works? Watch our second video and find out!

Click on the image to open the video in a new browser window

Click on the image to open the video in a new browser window

In this video, Green Key explains the application and award process step by step. You’ll learn more about the on-site and off-site audits, the decision making process as well as the award itself.

If you have missed our introductory video about Green Key, you can watch it here

Don’t want to miss any of our new videos? Then sign up to our YouTube channel Green Key International

The restaurant A Cozinha por António Loureiro wins Best Practice Competition 2018!

Each year, Green Key runs a best practice competition to encourage its awarded sites to present their most inspiring sustainability stories. And today on World Tourism Day we announce our winner: A Cozinha por António Loureiro restaurant (Portugal). Finishing second and third were Sinatur Storebælt (Denmark) and STF Lugnåsbergets vandrarhem (Sweden).

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This year, Green Key’s best practice competition focused on how to inform and involve guests in sustainability. The theme relates to SDG 12 “responsible consumption and production” to ensure “sustainable consumption and production patterns". Not only does Green Key help consumers to identify responsible tourism establishments, but awarded establishments also have to inform their guests about sustainable practices during their stay. Furthermore, Green Key awarded establishments are encouraged to engage their guests in their sustainability actions through activities, events, rewards etc.

At ‘A Cozinha’ , Chef António Loureiro and his team are totally committed to sustainable eating and also strive to pursue a policy of near-zero waste. An integrated approach considering several practices was implemented since the opening day. António, awarded Portuguese Chef of the Year in 2014, is well-known for his high quality gastronomy that combines tradition and innovation. He mainly uses regional or local products and the motto “cooking what Mother Nature is offering” has become an integral part of every menu he creates. To prevent food waste, António uses the entire product that is bought, cooked and combined in different ways.

As a part of the restaurant’s mission towards sustainability, António opens his kitchen for several initiatives to inform the local community and children about food waste. For example, in the activity “be a chef for a day”, or "team building with a cooking experience" guests have the chance to have a hands-on high level experience where they learn how to respect the products, how to promote the local economy with their choices and how to plan a week menu without creating a big amount of food waste.

In addition, António has adopted the ‘Eco-Cooks’ initiative which is part of the Eco-Schools programme in Portugal promoting healthy and sustainable food in schools.

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