My business carbon footprint, should I care?

Climate crisis, biodiversity collapse and extinguished eco systems are common words we hear every so often in recent years.

But what can I do about it?

Can I change it?

And if I can’t, should I care?

In a post COVID economy, business owners have enough to worry about without also joining the fight against climate change. However, can running greener business help recover the tourism and hospitality industry?

I think YES.

Benefits of running a Green Business

• A Green business is one that reduces it’s energy, water and waste, when you reduce your utilities you also SAVE money.

• Align your business to your customer values: 87% of global travellers want to travel more sustainably.

• Green Marketing & PR: Jump ahead of your competitors and offer something different that society wants.

• Improve staff turnover: Give your team something they care about and make your workplace a better choice for employees.

It is now more important than ever, that we stop to look at the long terms goals of our industry. For example, as a Hotel owner, would you like to safe yourself 30% of all your energy costs in just one year? Would you like to attract a new segment of customers from the Green Travel market?

If your answer is yes, the path to environmental sustainability is much easier than you think.

Making sense of environmental sustainability

When experts talk about sustainability it is such a broad subject that comprises so many different things, many of them unchangeable by the regular human been. The Fifty Shades Greener mission, is to help you build a framework to embed an environmental management system within your building and your team. We do this with a very simple method:

• Measurement – establish your current Green KPIs and Carbon Output
• Observation – Learn from your building, what waste you produce, where and why you use energy & water
• Implementation – Building a SMART Green Action Plan for your team
• Monitoring and Reporting

Many business owners ask me, how do I become Carbon Neutral in the next year?

My answer is always the same, you cannot.

Carbon Neutrality requires time, a detailed plan, and behavioural change of the workforce and all stakeholders. It is achievable, but there is no quick fix.

Getting started is the hardest part, making the decision to change and introduce something new at your business is always daunting. But if you can save money, attract a new market segment of travellers and be viewed as a business that cares for the environment, is it not worth to at least try?

Fifty Shades Greener has been working with Hospitality businesses in Ireland for the past 3 years, early this year, we launched our Online Training programmes, to also serve customers around the world. Now towards the end of 2020, we are expanding our trainer base, with Licensed trainers in the UK and Canada, so we can create a network of experts that will help us Green the Hospitality industry one business at the time.

Raquel