Bringing People Together: Sustainability Through Hotel Management

By Meaghan Drury ‘12

The first thing you see when walking into the Strathcona Hotel in downtown Toronto is a living wall art installation. The “S” on display within the living wall, although meant to stand for the hotel’s name, could also stand for “sustainability“ – the subject of discussion with grad Joseph Palladino ’16.

In his role as Corporate Sustainability Manager at Silver Hotel Group (SHG), Joseph works to create policy and introduce changes that create an atmosphere where everything from light bulbs to laundry is given consideration through the lens of what is the most environmentally conscious way to conduct business.

In Joseph’s experience, you can’t just make a policy and roll it out. Each hotel location is unique in what will work for the building, the staff members and the services provided to clientele. As Joseph sees it, “Sustainability is very holistic. In my role, I work with every department at SHG, from communications to engineering to sales. To become a leader in sustainability, it takes more than one person.”

Growing up, Joseph was the type of kid who always wanted to be outside, and he credits his childhood love for the outdoors as the beginning of his interest in the environment and sustainability. In 2016, Joseph graduated from McMaster University with a degree in human geography and political science, and in that same year, he completed Mohawk’s Leadership and Management in the Not-For-Profit Sector certificate program. From there, he went on to obtain his Master of Science in Sustainability Management from the University of Toronto.

Joseph says his day-to-day work often consists of setting up in the lounge or restaurant of one of the 13 hotels he oversees in the Greater Toronto Area. “Working out of the hotels gives me the opportunity to see the life of each location. How things work. Or don’t.”

Each hotel has their own sustainability committee, which allows each location to best serve the specific interests of that particular community. “There’s no point in creating a strategy that our team members don’t identify with and don’t see as working for their guests,” says Joseph. “The priorities for a hotel near the Pearson Airport are different than those located in the [Toronto] downtown core.” One may be focused on introducing retrofits to an older building while another may have the land to plant trees or have an on-site garden.

Joseph sees what he does as greater than just what takes place at SHG hotels. “By engaging and educating staff and guests on more sustainable practices, my hope is the knowledge will in turn be spread to their families and communities.”