Global Responsibility is a daunting image, a phrase that conjures up a commitment about as attractive as dragging a boat anchor through life.  A kinder definition suggests that there is a world beyond ourselves, one that we should play an active role in improving … whether we can do this by taking giant steps or baby steps.

Beyond individual responsibility, adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the hospitality industry makes good business sense, intentionally integrating the concept of CSR into a company’s strategy and decisionmaking process.  This will positively influence its image with employees, local communities and beyond.  How are hotels and resorts, together with their related food services and spas, impacting the environment and societies within which they operate?  Let’s consider an exciting diversity of initiatives – large-scale and small; obvious and surprising – that are making some positive differences.

In 1990, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts took a pioneering step with the launch of its industry-leading Green Partnership Program, an early guide to sustainable best practices in the lodging industry.  This established a commitment to minimizing the environmental impact of its extensive properties as a key component of their operating philosophy. Fairmont’s sustainability program focused on improvements in waste management, energy and water conservation as well as innovative community outreach programs involving local charities and local business partnerships.  The goal is to exceed their guests’ expectations of operational sustainability and responsible tourism.

Presiding over Victoria, British Columbia’s Inner Harbor for 106 years, The Fairmont Empress is a fine example of Fairmont’s sustainability program. It is a recipient of the distinguished 5 Green Key award presented by the Hotel Association of Canada, recognizing outstanding environmental practices.  Meeting monthly, a hotelwide Green Team is proactively on the hunt for new opportunities to engage the management, employees and community in sustainable practices. Whether it’s waste audits and composting or electric car charging stations with free parking for electric and hybrid vehicles, the ideas move quickly from concept to reality.

In 2011, The Fairmont Empress became the 13th Fairmont property to initiate a honeybee program, welcoming 400,000 working bees to the Empress gardens.  The resulting honey, proudly served in the hotel, is as local as it gets with rooftop herb gardens delivering tasty fresh herbs for cocktails and menus. An Eco Meet business planning program also includes sustainably-sourced Vancouver Island farm-fresh menus and the purchase of carbon credits to offset business travel.
At The Fairmont Empress’s elegant Willow Stream Spa, recycling is the order of the day. Plastic water bottles have been banished in favor of large water dispensers with reuseable cups, compostable non-plastic sheets are used for all wrap treatments, and old towels are donated to local animal shelters for re-use.  These are baby steps sincerely appreciated by the spa’s clients.

IHG InterContinental Hotels Group has developed an advanced online tool that measures the day-to-day environmental impact of participating IHG hotels.  As one of the world’s largest hotel companies, IHG and its Green Engage program help reduce hotel energy consumption by up to 25% a year, a giant step for an enterprise that comprises some 656,000 rooms in over 4,600 hotels in 100 countries and territories around the world.

Recognizing the steady growth of a clientele that hold strong values around sustainability, IHG created the Green Engage program to ensure that their hotels are designed, built and run for optimal sustainability.  The IHG online system monitors energy, water and waste usage of individual hotels while providing recommended actions to improve each property’s energy conservation and carbon footprint score.  IHG is the world’s first hotel program to be awarded a prestigious LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) endorsement.

The Willard Washington D.C., an InterContinental Heritage Hotel, is understandably proud of its business model promoting social responsibility and environmental protection while maintaining strong economic strategies.  It also operates 100% on wind energy, reaches out to a diverse collection of community charities and encourages individual employees to walk the sustainability walk with its employer.

Returning to Canada’s west coast, let’s visit The Listel Hotel, a downtown Vancouver boutique accommodation with a longstanding commitment to the local arts community and to British Columbia’s native artists.  This has earned it a well-deserved reputation as Vancouver’s most “art-full” hotel.  On certain floors, rooms are decorated with the work of an individual local artist along with educational material about that artist.  On other floors, rooms and hallways are decorated with native art curated by Vancouver’s world-renowned Museum of Anthropology.  The lobby is overrun with ever-changing paintings and sculptures, all for guests to study and enjoy.  Such high profile, sustained support for the arts community is a rare commitment of uncountable value.

The Listel Hotel is equally committed to environmental sustainability guided by its own eco-initiative, Environment Matters.  This best practices guide minimizes the property’s operational impact on the environment through some creative resource conservation and community partnerships.  Zero waste is a mantra embraced by all staff: turning organic waste into compost, reusing recyclables and converting non-recyclables into electricity. Going greener yet, The Listel is Vancouver’s first hotel to install a cutting-edge renewable energy system.  It has reduced its carbon footprint – and annual energy expenses – by installing solar panels and a highly efficient heat recovery system in partnership with a B. C.-based renewable energy company whose delightful slogan is “The sun hasn’t raised its rates for four billion years.”

With the rare treat of starting a restaurant from scratch, visionary Chef Chris Whittaker oversaw the planning for The Listel Hotel’s Forage opened in November 2012.  Under his guidance, Forage has become the pioneer restaurant in British Columbia for BC Hydro, LiveSmart BC and the Green Table Network: a partnership to showcase how to achieve maximum financial savings through the reduction of waste, water and energy consumption.  With LEED-certified kitchen equipment and locally sourced, organic West Coast menus, Forage is already a game-changer in sustainable, community focused restaurant operation.

In the 21st century, an ever-increasing number of business and leisure travelers are expressing their approval of environmental and social responsibility.  They are making conscious decisions to patronize hotels, resorts and associated services that are active in protecting the environment and in making the world a better place.  In the hospitality industry, it seems that what’s good for the planet is also proving to be good for the bottom line!