Park Regis Birmingham has recently achieved the Silver Award by Greengage ECOsmart Hotels and Venues Certification. This comes as a result following our ongoing commitment to becoming an eco-friendly hotel. Did you know that the hospitality and tourism industry contribute to 1% of global carbon emissions? According to The Global Decarbonisation Report conducted by the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, hotels need to reduce their carbon emissions by 66% by 2030 and by 90% by 2050.
Everything from energy/waste management, sustainable purchasing, to the toiletries in our guest rooms, we have honed in on every element of the hotel to challenge how we can be more environmentally sustainable by exploring new avenues to improve our practices.
Who is Greengage and why did Park Regis Birmingham want to work with them?
Greengage’s mission is to accompany organisations on their sustainability journey to strive towards meaningful change. Their industry leading sustainability certification system, ECOsmart, recognises business’s commitments to becoming more sustainable after measuring heir carbon output and offering advice in areas of the business that can be more eco-friendly.
How Park Regis Birmingham combats food wastage
In the past year, we partnered with Too Good to Go. Too Good to Go’s mission is to combat food wastage and the detrimental effect this has on the environment. They work with businesses to sell their surplus food at a reduced price (roughly a third of the original price), which prevents a significant amount of food wastage, daily. Surplus food is packaged up into ‘surprise’ packages which those who use the app can pre-order, and then can come collect it! Not only does this help the environment by reducing food waste, but it allows you to try something new from restaurants and cafes at a significantly reduced cost.
Guest rooms: luxury meets sustainability
A notable change we made to our guest rooms, was converting to eco-friendly toiletry products. Our aim was to find a brand who echoed our values of reducing our carbon footprint as well as elevating the guest experience by providing high-quality products. We decided the perfect match for us was Rituals. Offering bio-degradable ingredients encased in recyclable AND refillable packaging, we now proudly stock their toiletries in our guest rooms – specifically, their captivating ‘Rituals of Jing’ range. As a result, we will be saving a whopping 188,652 plastic bottles per year.
What’s more, we replaced our plastic room key cards and pens with brand new bamboo ones. We also now replenish toilet rolls and tissues that are made from biodegradable and free of harsh chemicals bamboo in our rooms. Why is bamboo more eco-friendly? Bamboo grows 30 times faster than regular hardwood trees. Bamboo requires 30% less water to grow, no irrigation, and the bamboo plant itself releases 35% more oxygen and absorbs 65% more carbon dioxide than regular trees. Our rooms also come equipped with shower caps, vanity kits, and dental kits which are made from straw or corn starch & all are packaged in stone paper which is tree free & printed with soy ink. Not only does this mean that we have you covered if you have left something at home by accident, but you needn’t worry about it affecting the planet when you dispose of them.
Wider initiatives taken to become an eco-friendly hotel
All our conference and meeting spaces are no longer equipped with pens, these have been replaced with bamboo pencils. Furthermore, our bars have removed all plastic bottled beverages, such as waters and juices, and have been replaced with glass bottled packaging instead. We have revised our restaurant offerings and have ensured that our menus now offer a higher percentage of vegan and locally sourced ingredients. Lastly, we have introduced a Green Committee who will be dedicated to continuing our journey to becoming an eco-friendly hotel and ensuring consistency in the changes we have already made.
Want to read the full list of our green initiatives to reduce the negative impact the hospitality industry has on our planet? You can find them here.
