Oh so Sustainable with Lucy Agace
Lucy Agace founded Responsible Rental Solutions 3 years ago to help guide smaller accommodation owners to incorporate sustainable practices into their businesses. 35 years as an underwater photographer and conservationist, demonstrated to Lucy the urgent need for sustainability action. Lucy provides sustainability certification for the hospitality sector and is a member of the GSTC. She is the UK partner for Green Globe as a professional auditor and certified with the University of Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership. Email: lucy@ gogreensustainability.com FB: Go Green Sustainability URL: https://www. gogreensustainability. com/certification-services/ responsible-rentals
We are now in the thick of the summer season and hopefully some of you were able to gain some useful tips in the last issue on how to prepare and enhance your garden or outside spaces to be more child and nature friendly. Being proactive in the area of sustainability, in this climate and showcasing your initiatives, can only help attract the eco-friendly guests. I work with large and small hotels across the UK, helping them achieve recognised standards of ESG (environmental, social, governance) and net-zero targets in the hospitality sector, culminating in the award of a prestigious eco-accreditation. These kinds of awards set out strict criteria with a minimum acceptable number of compliances that need to be met in the first year and then gaining a deeper level each year. You might think that this kind of commitment is reserved for bigger accommodation businesses, however this is not the case, and whilst this month's article might seem like a huge plug, it is not. In our business of accreditation and sustainability guidance, getting certified for your commitments to running a ‘greener, more socially and environmentally aware accommodation product’ is now the biggest growth area in hospitality. I am sure you are already aware that Booking.com publishes a yearly customer satisfaction and feedback report which is available to read here – https://www.sustainability. booking.com/_files/ugd/72455a_ a0dc4e3c57994a2c8daffd310a49e16a.pdf
In particular Sustainable Travel Insights say that 81% of travellers surveyed say they want to stay in sustainable accommodation and the top measures for indicating this are these 1. Recycling and excess waste 2. Limited use of single-use plastic 3. Energy efficiencies 4. Easy identification of responsible/ sustainable accommodation Identification by travel operator marks can be obtained in a number of ways, here are a few: • Booking.com Travel Proud • TripAdvisor scheme Green Leaders • AirBnB Green Stays Each of these provide different depths of responsible practices and although most have not been checked by an onsite visit, they are a great start on any journey to becoming an environmentally responsible business. I also provide a fully onsite checked green certification service and supply a list of 30 compliance criteria which I’m happy to share if you dm me. So what has motivated me to point out this area in the hospitality sector? Apart from working in it every day, I see people who remain oblivious to their impact on themselves, their neighbours, the wider community and globally. In essence we are all connected and maybe now, since the Ukraine war has had a seriously negative impact on all of us in many different ways, we begin to see that yes, we are all connected.
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