Accor Hotels holds Earth Guest Day

Sunday, April 22 is Earth Guest day for Accor’s 170,000 employees around the world, including 10,000 in Australia, with the day designated by Accor to showcase the Group’s commitment to the principles of environmental and social responsibility.

An Accor spokesperson said that the idea behind ‘Earth Guest day’ is that we are all guests of the earth and should take time out to give back to the planet. 

In nearly 60 countries around the world, Accor teams are supporting sustainable development programmes that are organised around both people (eg support for charities such as Plan and Cure Kids) and the environment (eco projects to control energy use, limit water consumption, manage waste and preserve biodiversity).

In Australia, water conservation has been identified as a key project because of the country’s acute short-term and long term water-shortage situation, and both guests and Accor staff are being encouraged to assist is reducing consumption in the hotel and when they return home.

Initiatives undertaken by Accor hotels in Australia include:

NSW

Every Drop Counts: in NSW several hotels are working with Sydney Water on there everydrop counts program to measure and control water usage.

Half a Teaspoon initiative: if the world’s water equates to a jug, only half a teaspoon of that jug is drinkable, so in NSW, where drought has become endemic, we are starting a water awareness program called Half a Teaspoon.

This program is designed to educate our staff and guests on the efficient use of water.  A special timer will be trialled in hotels which after 4 minutes alerts the guest by playing a sound. The clever awareness tool will come with an information pack in the room explaining the rationale and benefit of shorter showers;

Virgin Snow-White Energy: the Novotel Lake Crackenback Resort sits in the pristine foothills of the Snowy Mountains and with record low dam levels in the Snowy Hydro system, the Novotel has taken the initiative to start its own energy and water management program. 

The hotel has just completed the installation of a treated effluent irrigation system which will reduce the use of fresh water usage for irrigation by 70%, while still allowing the servicing of the resort’s nine hole golf course and the resort’s gardens.

In addition, the shower heads in the resort’s 47 apartments have recently been replaced with pressure reducing shower heads resulting in a reduction of water usage by 25 – 30%.

A decrease in electricity usage has been enhanced by the replacement of over 700 normal light bulbs with energy saving bulbs, saving 30-40% power usage for lighting.

This has also been boosted with the replacement of all timers on public lighting with light sensors. Besides a saving on water usage and reducing carbon dioxide levels the other winners are the kangaroos, brumbies, emus and wombats who are enjoying a prime feeding location on the lush green golf course.

VICTORIA

4-minute water-timers for guests: In Melbourne, guests of the Novotel Melbourne on Collins are given four minute egg timers to use and take home with them to emphasise the importance of saving water (Melbourne is the hardest hit urban centre in Australia);

Launching Victoria’s most environmentally-sensitive resort:  in June, Victoria’s most environmentally-sensitive large-scale hotel will be launched showcasing conservation measures.

The All Seasons Eco Resort Phillip Island has established wetlands areas as part of storm water management and a 15 acre conservation woodland area has been incorporated into the design to protect a remnant strand of mature gum trees of environmental significance. Over 75,000 trees have been planted and each villa has been fitted out with energy efficient gas appliances and heating.  A $750,000 water treatment system is also being installed ensuring substantial savings to the Phillip Island water infrastructure through recycling of water on site into toilets and irrigation. 

“The resort’s commitment to managing the environment is clearly demonstrated by the reforestation of much of the land with indigenous species encouraging the return of native fauna and flora,” says General Manager, Michael Ball.

QUEENSLAND

Cairns hotel ‘saves the frogs’ with purpose-built rainforest habitat: The grounds of the All Seasons Cairns Gateway Resort are not only popular with guests, they have become a sanctuary for northern Queensland’s more friendly fauna. The hotel has created its very own rainforest, with rare orchids, Ulysses butterflies, resident lorikeets and kookaburras, and now a purpose-built frog habitat that is designed to attract the distinctive white-lipped tree frog.

The Cairns Frog Hospital  uses the All Season’s rainforest as a recovery area for frogs who’ve been injured.

Private-Government Water Efficiency Co-operative Plan: Hotels are working with local councils and state bodies to develop more efficient hotel operations, for example in Queensland, Accor’s hotels are working with Brisbane City Council on a 5 point water efficiency plan to grade the hotel into star ratings Accor would like to hold the highest rating

AUSTRALIA-WIDE

Inefficient hot water systems are progressively being replaced across the network to reduce gas and water consumption

Dual flushed toilets and water-efficient shower heads are being introduced throughout the group

Some 10,000 Accor staff across Australia have been given the 4 minute timers to encourage shorter showers with a card advising means of reducing household water waste

Accor Vice President Australia, Simon McGrath said that while Earth Guest Day focused attention on the environment for one specific day of the year, Accor’s commitment to achieving the best sustainable outcomes was a long-term project, adding, “All of our 120 hotels in Australia are participating, with the focus being on educating our staff as well as our guests”. 

“For instance, when we design, build, replace or upgrade anything these days we ask if there is a better way to do it from an environmental point of view.”  “We appreciate that staying at hotels for many people is a luxury and they want to make the most of the experience, but there are simple ways of balancing the desire to indulge and being conscious of the needs of the environment.”

“Everyone in Australia is aware of the country’s water situation and the figures from our hotels are already indicating water savings of 10% to 20% in some locations through a combination of guests and hotel staff being more sensitive to water use.”  “We are going to further encourage such measures, and one of the most important steps to achieving this is to educate our staff about the initiative.”  “We see Earth Guest day as just the start of the project.”

Accor has been a long-term supporter of environmental initiatives in the hotel sector, with the Novotel and Ibis hotels at Sydney Olympic Park boasting the most progressive environmental initiatives of any major urban hotel complex in Australia.

The hotels were the first hotels to be awarded ISO14001 Environmental Management Systems certification, setting new benchmarks for environmental operation of hotels.

Accor is the largest hotel operator in Australia with 120 hotels and 17,537 rooms in every State and Territory in Australia.

ACCOR’S EARTH GUEST PROGRAM

After many years of pursuing initiatives to support the environment and local development, Accor introduced the Earth Guest sustainable development program in 2006.

Earth Guest day is one component of that program and with the support of a global network of correspondents sensitive to all aspects of sustainable development, clearly defined objectives were set.

In North America for example, hotels will concentrate on the rejuvenation of plants and trees in public spaces and in Europe it is the reduction of carbon emissions.

In terms of limiting water consumption, for example, the target for 2006 was to install flow regulators in 50% of Accor hotels and thanks to the deployment of a Hotel Environment Charter comprising 65 action points, an installation rate of 70% was achieved. At the same time, the 2006 objective was to double the number of countries in which Accor has signed the Code of Conduct for the protection of children, developed by ECPAT and the World Tourism Organization. Already committed to honouring the agreement in eight countries, Accor signed the Code in eight new countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Indonesia, Laos, Peru, Uruguay, Cambodia, the Philippines, Dominican Republic, Romania, Thailand and Vietnam).

By leveraging its presence on six continents and regular contact with 120 million customers, Accor is helping to spread the principles of sustainable development around the world.

Report by The Mole