Back in 2012, while working as the Sales & Marketing Manager of Hotel Doolin in West Clare, my General Manager told me to form a "green team" and apply for Green Hospitality Ireland certification. 

Excuse me but...what?!

To say I was apprehensive at the start would be an absolute understatement! 

I had no idea where to even begin.

I attended workshops, seminars, and completed an endless number of courses as well as reading blogs about Green businesses. 

Within 2 years and with little to no investment, we managed to reduce our Energy by 30%, our Waste by 40% and our Water by 25%. 

My first thought was “WHY ISN’T EVERYONE DOING THIS?"

To me, greening your hotel or restaurant became not just “the nice thing” to do, it is instead “the smart” thing to do from a business perspective. 

My Light-bulb moment 

At this point of my career, everything shifted and changed for me forever.

The "Why isn’t everyone doing this?" began forming an idea in my head. 

What if I could teach other...

The Irish Times has published an article titled:

Food & Drink companies facing mandatory emission targets. 

The article starts by saying: 

“All major Irish food and drinks companies will in future have to commit to reducing carbon emissions if they are to be part of Origin Green – the national sustainability programme run by Bord Bia.”

This is not surprising at all, what is surprising to me is that these measures are not part of our real world right now.

The Paris agreement is a legally binding international treaty on Climate change adopted by 196 parties in 2015. All countries participating need to achieve Zero Carbon by 2050.

Implementation of the Paris Agreement requires economic and social transformation.

But how do we achieve social transformation?

Social transformation is not something that can be achieved in a couple of years. Our culture, politics, economy, the way we think and live, needs to be transformed in a way where carbon emissions are part of our DNA. 

Carbon ...

Fifty Shades Greener, and the Educational Training Boards of Ireland, headed by KWETB, have partnered to deliver Environmental Training to the hospitality industry workforce in Ireland.

This project is funded by SOLAS and there will be no cost at all for businesses.

It has never been more important than now, that we provide opportunities for the workforce to upskill and learn something new in times of uncertainty within the industry.

The Fifty Shades Greener training programmes are practical, action based courses teaching employees and managers how to measure, monitor, control and reduce their business utilities.

“For me a Green business is one that reduces it’s impact on the environment, and we can achieve this by reducing our use of energy & water and production of waste. Reducing our utilities will not only reduce our Carbon emissions but it will also save us money. It is all about been resource efficient” explains Raquel Noboa, founder of Fifty Shades Greener.

As the Hospitali...

As adults, and in particular as professionals in our industry, it is hard to admit that there might be a better way to do things.

We have to be open to change.

We have to be whiling to admit the errors of our ways, and learn a new skill that will allow us to run more efficient businesses.

We have to be whiling to change the way we have always done things.

What if I was to tell you there are things you can do right now, today, without the need of capital investment to reduce your Hotel’s carbon footprint and SAVE YOU MONEY every day?

Would it be worth to dedicate some time this week to learn how?

The secret is that it all starts with behavioural change, with a willingness to learn something knew and apply it to your daily routine.

Changing yours and your team’s behaviour might seem an impossible task, but it is no different than training a brand new employee. If someone joins your team, you will be telling them about your company’s mission, your customer service promise, how you ...

When I first founded Fifty Shades Greener in 2017, my mission was to help Green the Hospitality industry in Ireland. It was a simple mission and quite achievable, little did I know my “vision” would grow legs from there, and 3 years later I would be expanding to international markets.

I have worked in the Hospitality Industry all my life, since I was 17, starting in night clubs, moving to Hotels and climbing the ranks over the years. I loved working in the industry, I have met the most amazing people through the places I have worked in, but as I near my 40’s, there were many reasons why I knew I needed a change.

• The hours are long
• The life style is fast paced
• The patience sometimes starts thinning!!

Discovering the concept of “Green Hospitality” was a life changer for me. All of a sudden, I realised there was more to hospitality than I originally thought. It is not just about serving customers, making budgets and a good RevPar every month. Resource efficiency is an area that H...

Fifty Shades Greener has launched the second round of our Licensed Trainers Network project and is seeking trainers and entrepreneurs worldwide, to join us in our mission to Green the Hospitality industry.

If you are looking for a new business opportunity in the growing market of Green Training then this project might be for you!!

Would you like to deliver the world’s leading green business training and coaching support for the tourism sector on an exclusive basis, in your area?

Would you like to be part of our fast-growing international network of Licensees in this important service?

Would you like to add four new revenue streams and work on a flexible basis to suit your current situation and priorities?

You can work with Fifty Shades Greener to help the Hospitality Industry reduce its Carbon Footprint, become a business sustainability expert in your location and earn in excess of €100,000 per year.

Fifty Shades Fifty Greener is seeking suitable training partner organisations an...

Hotels and Restaurants spend a good portion of their sales paying for utilities, the energy, water and waste that takes to run your business, can be the second largest cost you will incur over the year.

So when was the last time you trained your team to SAVE YOU MONEY??? Or have you ever?

Teaching your employees the right behaviour around the use of energy and water and production of waste is the KEY element to not only reduce your running costs, but also to run a greener, more efficient business, and to reduce your Carbon emissions. It is that simple!

I worked in the Hospitality industry all my life, since I was 17, I went through a Hotel Management Diploma for 4 years, NOBODY, in my 20 year career, told me I was behaving the wrong way around utilities, and I was spending more money than I should.

Nobody told me that switching off the over for an extra hour a day could save my workplace €2,000

Nobody told me knowing the water flow rate of our taps would help me make smarter decis...

Greening the Hospitality Industry in Kenya!

This week I am delighted to announce a new partnership between Fifty Shades Greener and Sustainable Travel and Tourism Agenda (STTA), based in Kenya.

Our collaboration, will see the Fifty Shades Greener Online Programmes deployed to Kenya’s Hospitality businesses and employees in 2020 and 2021.

STTA is an expert in sustainability of tourism, providing solutions for destination support in Africa. This support includes advisory services for tourism development strategy, tourism research consultancy, and sustainability training. The company has well established training programs for team learning and professional development, which makes them the perfect agent to partner with Fifty Shades Greener. Since its inception in 2013, STTA has been successfully mentoring sustainability leaders in the continent, and is thus a trusted training provider for tourism professionals. STTA commits to using its knowledge platform and networks to support touris...

If your business is running a Green programme to reduce it’s carbon footprint it seems logical to use your green journey as a marketing tool.

The travel agent central statistics released a report in 2019 were it stated that:

87% of global travellers want to travel more sustainably

78% of traveller would pay more to stay in Green certified accommodation

So a green programme is not only good for the planet, it is also what society and your customers are seeking more and more in recent years.

Running a Green Hotel can increase your customer footfall and rates, but there are a few top tips to follow, in order to market your green journey in the right way.

1. NEVER EVER say you do more than what you do. This is my number one rule, always be honest and never over exaggerate your achievement, there is nothing worse than green washing.
2. Document your team’s journey through videos, photos and social media posts. Are you having a Green Team meeting? Take a photo, disclose what you discuss a
...

Sustainability doesn’t have to be an unattainable goal, or something in the distance that we all know exists but we fail to pursue. There are so many small changes we can all implement in our lives and workplaces that will directly affect our use of resources and our production of a carbon footprint.

When I founded Fifty Shades Greener in 2017, my mission was to train the hospitality workforce in Ireland, so we could live up to our name, the Emerald Island, providing green accommodation to our overseas visitors.

Fast forward a couple of years and my goal grew legs. I now want to teach every single hospitality worker in the world the little things we can all do to change our behaviour around the use of energy and water and production of waste.

A new partnership between Fifty Shades Greener and Dalhousie University’s College of Continuing Education will help bring this dream to life as we work together to green the hospitality industry in Canada.

For more than 35 years, the College o...