THE CONSIDERATE - Transparency and Communications
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Monday 11th May 2015
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The Considerate May 2015
This month's topic:
Transparency and Communication
Highlights and Headlines CONSIDERATE HOTELS Stories that impress us Reaching for the Stars at Battlesteads
CONSIDERATE SUPPLIERS Companies that inspire us Read the story of our Considerate supplier Original Beans: TraceableTransparency - bite by bite
STORY OF THE MONTH Organisations that motivate us Read more about CH strategic partnership with Bookdifferent
CONSIDERATE PERSONALITY People that move us Our guest of the month is Philipp Kauffmann, founder and CEO of Original Beans http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=dde11f98e5ce03d93968ee089&id=0c316540ee
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CONSIDERATE EVENTS Moments that inspire you The Considerate Hoteliers Awards will take place at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park London on the 3rd of July.
CONSIDERATE SUPPLIERS DIRECTORY Updated each month, the full rundown of our accredited suppliers
Trends that drive us: Having worked in communications for years, I am a firm believer that it is key for us to talk about our work, share our knowledge in order to not only educate (as that can sound slightly condescending) but to inform. Here at Considerate Hoteliers we have always encouraged responsible business practices within hotels and encouraged the sharing of best practice in order to improve the overall performance of the industry. In the age of the internet where everybody has access to nearly everything, people and companies display their lives on the net for all to see, many have slowly caught on to the fact that transparency and communication have to be pre-empted before demanded by the client, when often reputational damage has already occurred and it’s too late to revert. We therefore decided to dedicate the month of May to the issue of transparency, as it is also one of the key elements of our data- monitoring platform Con-Serve. Being in the know about what we consume and use, having the hard facts displayed before us, empowers us to make changes and set goals. Once we are in such a position we http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=dde11f98e5ce03d93968ee089&id=0c316540ee
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will also want to communicate to others what these changes are and how we have achieved them.
Xenia zu Hohenlohe, Marketing Director Considerate Hoteliers
Guests now want to know what hotels they stay in get up to behind the scenes! Therefore, as long as your initiatives are not done solely for marketing or positioning purposes, which so often has ended up as a desperate act of green washing, but are voluntary acts of compliance, the effect of communicating them can only be but positive. More and more global hotel companies are producing CSR reports, see the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, or joining the UN Global Compact Programme for COP (Communication on Progress) such as the Oetker Collection and some of these reports are jaw-dropping documents. (see more details in our Hotel section) But this is not the only way of communicating your Green/Considerate actions. Clever cards and guest newsletters placed in the rooms, menus in restaurants talking about the suppliers and farmers providing the food, guest relations suggesting outings to some of the stakeholders who provide the hotels with goodsall of these are ways of communicating positively! CH now offers hotels, as one of its consultancy services, the option to help write the annual CSR report, in particular to those already using Con-Serve as it provides all the necessary data for such an exercise. Additionally please remember that part of the reason for running the Considerate Hotel of the Year Awards is so that hotels can shout their achievements from the rooftops. In particular our ‘Guest Relations and Marketing Award of the Year’ concentrates on this issue. Every entry is a testimony to the increasing trend of transparency and communication.
Our entry deadline is looming- so hurry up and send us your applications http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=dde11f98e5ce03d93968ee089&id=0c316540ee
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by Friday May 22nd! For further information on CSR reporting, please see: UN Global Compact- COP Standard CSR Policy for SMEs
CONSIDERATE HOTELS Stories that impress us
Reaching for the stars for the stars at Battlesteads by John Firrell For many years now Battlesteads has created a green flare path for others to follow. Passionate and indeed Considerate Hotelier Richard Slade turned a run-down, rarely visited inn in Northumberland into a Mecca of sustainability, foodie destination and wine and beer drinkers paradise. The perfect Inn you might say, but Richard and his wife Dee are not content to leave it there. They decided that in building their new eco-lodges, they would also reach for the sun, and indeed the stars. Whilst their reputation for good food, wine and beer has brought them visitors from http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=dde11f98e5ce03d93968ee089&id=0c316540ee
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near and far and best pub awards, their pioneering on the sustainability front have not only complemented their trophy cabinet but given them a thirst to do even more. There now stands to the rear of the property in Wark on-the-Tyne, five splendid ecolodges and whilst it is true to say they are the height of luxury, they are also the epitome of sustainable building practices. They have been built using FSC sourced timber, recycled plastic decking for the balconies, Newlife paint and the furniture and beds were all bought at auction and came from another hotel that had gone out of business. Much of the energy brought into Battlesteads is produced by a small solar array which stands to the west of the property and follows the sun as it moves around from east to west, and a large biomass boiler that uses wood chip produced a mile up the road. Excess heat is pumped into the large polytunnels that produce much of the hotel's fresh vegetables, fruit and herbs. A rainwater harvesting tank is situated behind the hotel and is used to irrigate the gardens and polytunnels. A small lake fed by a spring is now being readied for its first intake of resident and migrating wildfowl. Many would say there was enough here to keep guests from getting bored and indeed Richard conducts regular tours of the hotel's “estate” proudly showing off what for many is an aspiration but for him an absolute passion in a world when the very word passion is so abused and over-used – not so at Battlesteads! Richard & Dee wanted to do more and they found the answer in Northumberland's renowned dark sky. In this particular part of the county, the dark sky is recognised as one of the best in Europe, devoid of light pollution and a delight for stargazers. Cue for the building and installation of Battlesteads very own observatory. Here guests can for a nominal fee, and under the guidance of an astronomer-in-residence, stare at the wonderment of the universe through a powerful telescope. Viewings can go on late into the night so a composting loo is but a few yards away. Needless to say the observatory and eco-lodges have proved extremely popular and undoubtedly put quite a few extra bums on beds, something that was always part of the master plan. Richard & Dee, ably assisted by their Asst GM Kt have reached for the stars. A visit to this diversifying and delightful establishment is a testament to a determination and willingness to go the extra sustainable mile. You may not always find Stargazy Pie on the menu but you will certainly find a very warm welcome and even get to gaze out on Battlesteads dark best kept (at the moment) secret. As Bette Davis said to Paul Heinreid in Now Voyager: “Don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars".
http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=dde11f98e5ce03d93968ee089&id=0c316540ee
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Kilworth House Hotel Charity Walk for Rainbows Hospice for children and young people. On 30th April 2015 there was a 5-10 km charity walk around the Kilworth Estate. Minimum donation of £5 per 5km per person will be donated to Rainbows Hospice. Last year, the same event took place with various activities such as the hire of the red blankets at the theatre, which raised close to £4,000 and the voluntary addition of £1 to restaurant bills which raised over £8,000. Information here.
Hustyn Hotel: Fundraising for Comic Relief 10th March 2015 was the main event with the programme offering cake competitions, a bake sale, an Elemis product sale and even a staff charity waxing session. All together, Hustyns raised roughly over £700 for Comic Relief. More information here. Follow the links below to read: Mandarin Oriental Sustainability Report Fairmont sustainability commitment
CONSIDERATE SUPPLIERS Companies that inspire us
Original Beans Traceable Transparency - bite by bite
http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=dde11f98e5ce03d93968ee089&id=0c316540ee
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In order to preserve something, you have to eat it. Sounds like a contradiction, but consumption is not necessarily a one-way street. It can actually help to fuel a positive replenishment cycle, if it forms part of a sustainable supply chain. Take our favourite treat, chocolate, for instance. It can be a powerful tool getting the balance between economy and ecology right again. How? Its main ingredient cacao originates in the cradle of life itself: our world’s rainforests. They host an incredible richness of species. However, most of them are in severe danger. As the latest WWF Living Planet Report reveals, half of the world’s flora and fauna has vanished forever, in the last 40 years. Almost the entire decline is down to human activity, through habitat loss, deforestation and resulting climate-change. Ironically, the situation is even worse in low-income countries, where people depend on natural resources for their livelihoods. This is where cacao - if traded directly at fair price - provides a solution that both benefits forests and people. The cacao plant is a shadow-lover that grows best in the understorey of the forest. That has the advantage that no forest needs to be chopped down to cultivate it. Avoiding the practice of slash ‘n burn agriculture is, according to a recent McKinsey study, the cheapest and most efficient way to abate greenhouse gases and consequently mitigate climate change. So can eating chocolate made from sustainably cultivated cacao actually help to save our climate as well as forests and wildlife? Yes, especially if a tree is replanted for every chocolate bar sold. To prove this concept, Considerate Hoteliers supplier Original Beans has commissioned an independent assessment of climate costs and benefits for the production-cycle of one of its chocolate bars. The study supports the company’s vision that it is possible to turn the balance of greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption from a net debt to nature into a positive contribution - thanks to lowenergy production, 100% bio-compostable packaging, green logistics, banking, web hosting, office space and consequent reafforestation. Every tree planted into an http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=dde11f98e5ce03d93968ee089&id=0c316540ee
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intact cacao forest absorbs 274g more CO2 than the production of one Original Beans bar emits. In other words, a consumer who eats one Original Beans chocolate bar offsets the negative climate effect of three unsustainable chocolates. Reason enough why more and more innovative restaurant chefs as well as devoted chocolate-lovers choose to purchase products like Original Beans that build on a sustainable supply-chain. But the real challenge arises when communicating such a sustainable approach to the consumer. In order to make its conservation monitoring as transparent and traceable as possible, Original Beans invites the customer to actively engage. Via a code on the back of the packaging, he can track the tree planted for the chocolate on www.originalbeans.com. This way the chocolate-lover also learns more about underlying global problems such as deforestation and biodiversity loss. Geo-maps of planting areas, farmers stories and a detailed description of measures and outcomes aim to make the conservation projects behind the Original Beans chocolates more tangible.
Follow the link to see ToshibaTEC environmental portfolio.
STORY OF THE MONTH Organisations that motivate us
CH very recently embarked on an exciting new partnership with BookDifferent. BookDifferent is the first and leading hotel booking site indicating which of their hotels have been certified with one of the top ‘green’ accreditations within the travel industry. It therefore allows a traveller to choose a hotel according to their own sustainable standards. BookDifferent only recognise accreditations that are awarded by impartial third parties and undertake independent audits. By taking this approach they are ensuring that the sharing of performance is based on quality information, recognising organisations that go beyond just claiming to be green. Furthermore, with each booking made through the organisation a donation is made to a charity of the customer’s choice. Hotels listed on BookDifferent are also provided with an estimated carbon footprint http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=dde11f98e5ce03d93968ee089&id=0c316540ee
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per room night rating, allowing consumers to understand the relative performance prior to making a booking. We applaud this approach to CO2 transparency as the like-for-like comparison of hotels’ environmental performance allows more informed choices to be made. It will help to increase the number of eco-friendly and sustainably aware travellers which will drive other hotels to go green too and create an incentive for the sector as a whole. Through our strategic partnership, hotels featured on BookDifferent.com can now use our Con-Serve platform to show their real live CO2 data along with their hotel profile. BookDifferent have the same ethos as Considerate Hoteliers, to use the best possible information when considering the performance of hotels, and this use of real-world data will serve to enhance hotels’ transparency offering.
CONSIDERATE PERSONALITY People that inspire us
Philipp Kauffmann (Founder and CEO, Original Beans) Coming from a long line of environmentalists and being an entrepreneur at heart, I wanted to bring a true nature conservation mission into a successful business model and brand. From this idea the chocolate & conservation company Original Beans was born in 2008. Our way to preserve the most biodiverse rainforests in the world is to offer their most delicious fruit: fine flavour cacao. To give back, we enable our local farmers to plant or preserve one tree for every bar sold. My life motto
All is one An unforgettable place I travelled to in the last year Tanah Papua, Indonesia. One of the last green frontiers on Earth. Anthropologists estimate more than 40 so far uncontacted tribes still live in these forests. My favourite hotel Ibo Island Lodge off the coast of Mozambique. I remember it when it was still, yes, a http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=dde11f98e5ce03d93968ee089&id=0c316540ee
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ruin. What does our “Topic of the Month” mean to you A great challenge, since transparency requires more than just communication: education and competitive innovation. When we say our Piura Porcelana chocolate originates from white cacao beans we found in Peru, people will still ask: What is “white cacao”? And now competitors also know that we found an ultra-rare cacao in the Piura valley... The oldest piece of clothing in my wardrobe One of my grandfather’s ties. It smells of history. The last meal that truly impressed me A squid dish I made myself. I am a poor cook, but our Slowfish fisherman is exceptionally talented. What freshness in taste and texture! People that inspire me are those who go all the way to achieve excellence and remain humble in doing so. What does responsible tourism/business management mean to you No shortcuts as a general principle My favourite website A new one every other day I travel to work by.. on a bike that even a junkie won’t steal. It’s Amsterdam after all! Seasonal & local favourite produce All comes from the organic farmers Noorder-market. A must for anybody visiting Amsterdam. My favourite ‘sustainable’ company Patagonia by a far cry. They live up to the word ‘sustainable’; few do. My biggest worry about the future I can't hold back on this one: Human-made climate change and biological mass extinction are starting to make our lives unpredictable. My biggest hope for the future The web of life is resilient, and so are we.
CONSIDERATE EVENTS Moments that inspire you The Considerate Hoteliers Awards have officially been launched. The ceremony will take place on Friday 3rd July at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London, all the information can be found on our website.
http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=dde11f98e5ce03d93968ee089&id=0c316540ee
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The Awards are generously supported by Berendsen, Aslotel, Original Beans and Eurofoodbrands, The application forms can be found here - We look forward to receiving your entry.
CONSIDERATE SUPPLIERS DIRECTORY Updated monthly The Considerate Suppliers Directory is a list of approved suppliers assessed by Considerate Hoteliers to ensure that they: follow a similar ethos to ours; have ethical policies in place; and conduct their business responsibly. Most suppliers offer preferential rates to our members, but you will need to log in to the members area of our website to view these offers. For further information please visit the more detailed directory of our Considerate Suppliers on our website: Please click here.
Supplier
Product/ServiceE-mail Toiletries and equipment for Aslotel murray.roberts @aslotel.co.uk hotel bedrooms and bathrooms Barden Biomass heating info@bardenenergy.com Energy systems Textile services Berendsen kevin.davies@berendsen.co.uk supplier Carbon Voltage Management management andy.payne@carbonmanagementservices.uk.com Services technology Crukafe Ltd Beverage tom@crukafe.com Eco-friendly Delphis Eco cleaning sales@delphiseco.com products Earth Naturally derived Renewable cleaning info@earth-renewable-solutions.com Solutions Ltd products Systems for freshly filtered Eau de Vie still and a.matthews @classeq.co.uk Ltd http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=dde11f98e5ce03d93968ee089&id=0c316540ee
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EcoPure Waters
GFL S.A.
Gilchrist and Soames Gram
JAB
Lalani & Co. Maxim Eyes (UK) Ltd Plan Bee Ltd
ReEnergise
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sparkling water from mains On site water k.cripps @ecopurewaters.com filtration systems Bathroom cosmetics and info@gfl.eu guest amenity products Spa, bath and d.heron @gilchristsoames.com body products Manufacturer of refrigerators and glro@gramuk.co.uk freezers Interior furnishings e.g; curtains, carpets, rugs, blinds and karen.brennan@jab-uk.co.uk fabric for drapery, throws, cushions and upholstery. Boutique tea info@lalaniandco.com curators Energy and communications Mohsin@maximeyes.net consultants Fully managed warren@planbeeltd.com beehive service Energy efficiency and renewable tarquin @reenergisegroup.com energy consultants
The Fine Housekeeping & Cotton Consumables Company Toshiba TEC Technologies Organic and Tosca Bio Gbrbiodynamic Italian food VEOLIA Recycling and Environmentalwaste
trevor@thefinecottoncompany.com info@toshibatec.co.uk info@toscabio.com
consideratehoteliers @veolia.co.uk
http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=dde11f98e5ce03d93968ee089&id=0c316540ee
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management Italian wine Vini Italiani retailers White Knight Laundry and Laundry linen hire Services Original Sustainable Beans chocolate
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Services
bruno@vini-italiani.co.uk
sales@white-knight.co.uk
daniel@originalbeans.com
Website
http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=dde11f98e5ce03d93968ee089&id=0c316540ee
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