Considerate Hoteliers has helped hotels including the Savoy and the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge to weave sustainability into their everyday activities by realising the commercial opportunities of major energy, waste and water savings.
The association was formed in 1991 by a group of like-minded hoteliers, in a bid to help busy hotel keepers adopt smart business practices that protect the environment and enhance the experience of guests, staff and visitors. Despite the travel and tourism sector accounting for 4-6% of global CO2 emissions, Considerate Hoteliers believes it is the only hotelier network tackling this challenge.
Keen to expand its offering to hoteliers the association became a limited company in 2012. Considerate Hotelier's seven-strong team provides members with practical advice through newsletters, workshops and webinars. Topics span everything from waste management and energy efficiency to responsible purchasing.
The team also promotes knowledge-sharing and highlights best practice via its online knowledge hub and annual awards, helps members to promote their sustainability credentials, and gives them access to a directory of approved suppliers.
By offering consistent, robust support, Considerate Hoteliers has helped Battlesteads Hotel near Newcastle to reduce its energy costs by 85% by exchanging oil-fired heating for a biomass heating system and solar panels. The move saves the hotel around £18,500 a year, while any excess heat is piped into polytunnels to grow fruit and vegetables.
London's Park Plaza Westminster Bridge hotel has installed a "waste to water" food digester that cuts its landfill waste by 11 tonnes a month and saves £75,000 in water bills annually. Similarly, the Savoy is transforming its food waste into energy, generating power for 20% of its rooms and saving £10,400 in annual landfill costs.
Katharine Earley is a journalist and copywriter, specialising in sustainability.
The Guardian Sustainable Business Sustainability Case Studies contain articles on all the initiatives that met the criteria for the GSB Awards.
