Green Key awarded Port Side Resort Hotel strongly committed to the environment

Port Side Resort Hotel, located in the beautiful area of Antalya (Turkey), is a 5-star hotel which offers a variety of amenities to their guests as well as spacious and beautifully decorated rooms with great views. As a Green Key awarded hotel, it is strongly committed with the environment. 

The name of the hotel, Port Side Resort, comes from the old port, called Evrenseki. The region is well-known for its rich vegetation and bio-variety. Olive, pomegranate and laurel trees are planted there. In the hotel garden there is an olive tree more than 250 years old and a pomegranate tree that is 50 years old. In the sea, you can find the special Caretta Caretta turtle. 

Because the sand lilies (Pancratium maritium, Sea Daffodil, Sea Lily) are threatened by the extinction, the hotel grow them in their own greenhouse and plant them on the beach. Therefore, the hotel supports the replication and the protection of these lilies. 

In order to protect the environment, the hotel has also taken a lot of other actions: 

• Water saving devices are used in faucets, and there are sensors in general areas
• The six litre tanks are used in toilets
• The garden is watered by drip irrigation system
• Daily change of towels and bed sheets are only made by demand of the guests - in order to reduce the use of water, energy and detergents
• Energy saving systems are installed in the rooms
• Energy A class and LED bulbs with sensors are used
• All windows in the rooms are double grazing
• Refrigerators,  cold rooms and minibars are placed far from the sun or other heating sources
• Solar panels are used for heating water
• The VRV system is used for cooling and heating of the rooms 
• Electricity and water consumption are regularly followed and reported
• Regular education programmes are organised for staff discussing environment, action plan, policies and the use of chemicals.
• The hotel is using electronic communication system in order to minimise the paper consumption
• All trees and other flora in and around the hotel are carefully protected
• Guests are encouraged to separate waste in recycle bins located in general areas
• Batteries, accumulators, oils and all other types of dangerous waste are collected and stored in a special room before being delivered to licenced firms
• All oil waste from the kitchen are delivered to a licenced firm for recycling

Landal Hochmontafon using toilet paper made of 100% recycled fibre

The Green Key awarded holiday park, Landal Hochmontafon in Austria has started to use a very environmentally friendly toilet paper product made from tetra packs. 

Landal Hochmontafon is in 2017 testing a new toilet paper product produced by Green Key’s corporate partner, Lucart Group. The toilet paper is called “EcoNatural” and is made by Fiberpack®, the raw material developed in a collaboration between Lucart Group and Tetrapak. The toilet paper is made out of used beverage cartons, so it is produced using 100% recycled cellulose fibres. Beverage cartons furthermore contain polyethylene and aluminium that Lucart Group ensures are reused in other manufacturing activities.

The “EcoNatural” products supports a more sustainable future by giving life to materials which otherwise would be lost as waste, it contributes to the reduction of carbon emissions in the atmosphere and it prevents the cutting of trees. Lucart Group’s EcoNatural products are certified with the FSC Recycled® label and the EU Ecolabel.

As the toilet paper from Lucart Group is produced in Northern Italy it is transported over a shorter distance to Landal Hochmontafon in Austria than the previously used toilet paper produced in the Netherlands.

Green Key’s corporate partner, Lucart Group manufacture a full range of tissue product in Fiberpack® toilet paper, handtowels, facial tissues, wiper rolls, napkins, medical sheets, handkerchiefs.

Radisson Blu Kyiv launches a new campaign to recycling oil

This year Radisson Blu hotel, Kyiv, has launched a new campaign regarding recycling oil from the kitchen. They have signed an agreement with an Ukranian company which buys cooking oil from the hotel. After the recycling process the company receives biodiesel.

Biodiesel is a biodegradable combustible fuel,  which is usually made from vegetable oil or animal fat. It is desirable as an alternative to petroleum fuel because it uses renewable resources that are less damaging to the environment. It also produces and emits less harmful greenhouse gasses when burned as fuel.

Biodiesel fuel can be used in any vehicle with a compression ignition engine that can take regular diesel fuel.

Thanks to this campaign, 60 litres of the substance every three weeks can be recycled!

Time Hotels Management announcing Green Key status for its hotels

UAE-headquartered hospitality company, TIME Hotels Management, has added another environmental accolade to its growing roster of achievements with the announcement of its first Green Key status for most of its hotels and hotel apartments across the hospitality groups portfolio.

As a leading international standard of excellence in the field of environmental responsibility and sustainable operation within the tourism industry, the Green Key award is a voluntary eco-label that represents a commitment by businesses that their tourism establishments adhere to the strict criteria as stipulated by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). It aims to contribute to the prevention of climate change by awarding and advocating facilities with positive environmental initiatives and, to qualify, the hotel passed an exhaustive audit.

“TIME Hotels has been committed to pursuing an active strategy of initiatives, events and programmes designed to engender a pro-sustainability culture across all our properties and in the communities in which we operate. This Green Key award is further endorsement of this commitment, and provides further motivation for us to maintain our corporate policy of putting the environment at the top of our agenda for positive change,” said Mohamed Awadalla, CEO, TIME Hotels. TIME Oak Hotel and Suites, TIME Grand Plaza Hotel and TIME Ruby Hotel Apartments were all successful in the latest round of Green Key assessments.

The annual Green Key award also promotes awareness and encourages the creation of behavioural changes in guests, staff and suppliers, as well as applauding increased use of environmentally friendly and sustainable concepts and applications within hotel operations.

The audit covered 13 key areas from water conservation, waste management systems and indoor environment to green activities, staff involvement and guest awareness. No stranger to sustainable initiatives, TIME Hotels launched The Urban Garden project early this year, which can be found at TIME Oak Hotel & Suites in Barsha Heights, Dubai. Managed in partnership with Slow Food Dubai and attracting keen interest from organic food enthusiasts across the emirates, the garden educates people on how to grow their own herbs and vegetables in a challenging climate.

TIME Oak Hotel & Suites has also recently become a member of the Emirates Green Building Council, a UAE-based organization formed in 2006 with the goal of advancing green building principles for protecting the environment through the expertise of its members. The group was also recently awarded the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Dubai Chamber) CSR Label Award.

Landal Brandnertal using locally sourced energy

The Green Key awarded holiday park is saving transportation and expenses by using locally produced wood chips as source of energy

Landal Brandnertal is located in a beautiful mountain area in Austria treasured by tourists both during summer and winter time.

The holiday park recently achieved the Green Key award for its high environmental standards within waste reduction and recycling, water and energy saving etc.

Landal Brandnertal receives its energy from renewable sources. As the surrounding mountainous areas are full of forests, the holiday park has installed a very efficient wood burner and receives wood chips from a nearby sawmill. After the wood chips have been burned creating energy for the establishment, the ashes are provided to local farmers to be used as organic fertilizers.

Not only is Landal Brandnertal using a renewable and local source of energy avoiding long distance transportation, the establishment is also saving expenses using wood chips.

Green Key awarded to first two establishments in Mauritius

The two luxury five star hotels, Heritage Awali Golf and Spa Resort and Heritage Le Telfair Golf and Spa Resort are the first two establishments in Mauritius having achieved the prestigious Green Key award.

Green Key is happy to announce the first two hotels in Mauritius that have been awarded the Green Key label. Both Heritage Resorts hotels have demonstrated its extensive work with sustainability in connection with the reporting during the application phase and at the onsite audits.

Both hotels have worked intensively with their environmental management, for instance through having LED light bulbs everywhere in the hotels to save energy, and taps and showers with reduced flow to lower the water consumption.

The two hotels have also ensured that the staff is well informed and trained in environmental and sustainability matters through regular meetings on Green Key. The guests staying at two hotels are not only informed about the environmental work at the hotels but are also offered to participate in activities such as Earth Hour, nature guided bicycle tours and tree planting events. Heritage Resorts even reach out to local schools and the surrounding community by supporting local environmental activities in relation to reef conservation and sea biodiversity.

Green Key would like to congratulate Heritage Awali Golf and Spa Resort and Heritage Le Telfair Golf and Spa Resort with the excellent environmental and sustainability standards. Green Key is now having establishments in 54 countries worldwide.

Green Key attending FITUR travel fair in Madrid

The annual large travel fair, FITUR, was held in Madrid (Spain) on 18-22 January 2017 with the participation of Green Key

This year, representatives of both Green Key International and Green Key Spain attended the large tourism fair.

Green Key attended the opening ceremony of the 2017 International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development with speeches by the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization, ministers from Georgia, Honduras and Spain as well as the EU Commissioner being responsible for tourism and the Assistant Director-General of UNESCO.

During the event, Green Key also attended various best practice presentations and roundtable discussions related to sustainability as well as met with existing and potential partners.  

Green Key supporting UN International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017

UN has declared 2017 as the UN International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development (IY2017), and as Green Key in all work aims at influencing the hospitality and tourism industry we will be an active participant in the IY2017

The World Tourism Organization is the UN agency in charge of IY2017 that has given Green Key the official status as “Friend of IY2017”.

Green Key participated in the official launch of IY2017 on 18 January 2017 at the international tourism fair FITUR in Madrid.

Many current activities of Green Key are already supporting sustainable tourism for development, and at international as well as at national level the planned Green Key activities, seminars and events in 2017 will be connected to IY2017.

Green Key also plans to develop new activities in the framework of IY2017, such as new material supporting sustainable tourism at the Green Key establishments, the organisation of a best practise competition, celebrating World Tourism Day in September, etc. 

All IY2017 activities organised by Green Key will be registered on the official IY2017 website that will be established shortly. 

Green Key launched in South Korea

Green Key’s presence globally is still increasing with Foundation for Environmental Education’s member organisation in South Korea (Lifesaving Society Korea) deciding to launch the implementation of the Green Key programme

JongRae Kim, Green Key national operator in South Korea, would like to encourage hotels and other tourism establishments in South Korea to contact Lifesaving Society Korea for more information about Green Key and the benefits of joining the programme. Lifesaving Society Korea presents Vision 2020 to promote and execute the renowned sustainable development programmes in South Korea, and Green Key is one of the core programmees. 

Finn Bolding Thomsen, International Director of the Green Key programme welcomes the new national management from South Korea that will support Green Key’s increasing presence in East Asia.

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Contact details to Green Key South Korea:

Lifesaving Society Korea, 1505 Ho, 2Cha IS BizTower, 79-1, Yangpyeong-dong 4-ga, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Zip code 150866, Seoul, South Korea