De-stressing sustainability
SUSTAINABILITY stress has begun a modern-day reality. Individuals do their bit for the environment, whether it’s ditching plastic straws, taking shorter showers or buying worm farms but, at some point, our contribution can start to feel insignificant - especially as crises such as the devastating Australian bushfires put the spotlight on the extent of the problem. That can feel stressful and demoralising.
Pressure is mounting on governments and companies to act. Tourism and hospitality organisations are working hard to ban plastics, install energy efficient lighting, source our produce locally and reduce water usage, but sustainability stress kicks in here again – are we doing enough to really make a difference?
The message here is: do everything you can, and work with experts who can take you the extra mile.
For example, there is food waste in our industry whether we like it or not, so IHG has installed award-winning Winnow Vision AI-enabled technology in hotels to help in food preparation decisions, and formed an ‘Awesome Partnership’ with
OzHarvest,
Australia’s leading food rescue charity. OzHarvest already makes a huge difference in Australia every day, feeding hungry Australians and providing hospitality skills training, so it made sense to partner with them to help take food waste efforts to the next level.
Beyond food waste, IHG has saved 6,411kg of soap from going to landfill while improving hygiene in disadvantaged communities through the partnership with Soap Aid. Internal programs like ‘A Greener Stay’, give guests the choice to forego housekeeping in return for IHG Reward Club points, saving almost 100,000 toiletries since the start of 2019.
Partnership is an opportunity to build a mutuallybeneficial relationship with experts; start by looking for partners who share your values and culture, and then be prepared to invest time and make genuine change.
Of course, it doesn’t solve everything. Creating a more sustainable industry and economy won’t be easy and there’s still a long way to go but by working together we can make our efforts go further.
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Chris Waite is the Director of Communications - Australasia & Japan for InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG ®). He is responsible for building IHG’s reputation by delivering on corporate communications, industry affairs and corporate responsibility strategy in the region.