At this year's 2nd Sustainability Day on 8 January 2024 at the Empire Riverside Hotel and Hotel Hafen Hamburg, we once again underlined the fact that sustainability is more than just a word for us - it is a conviction we live by. This day was characterised by informative workshops that gave us deep insights into various aspects of sustainability.
Read moreIt was important to us not only to provide information, but also to familiarise the audience with the extent of the issue of sustainability, particularly in our industry. As a large company with around 250 employees, we feel it is our duty to set a good example, to be a role model for other companies and to use examples to show that even the smallest changes are a big step in the right direction.
Read lessAs in 2023 on our first Sustainability Day we again invited all our employees in 4 rounds to be informed about our goals, figures, successes and challenges in a plenary session and then to attend one of the previously selected workshops. We are proud that we once again found such incredibly great partners who made this day possible for us.
In the evening, we invited our partners, suppliers, customers, neighbours and friends of the hotels, who, after an impressive keynote speech by FC St. Pauli, were able to experience the same programme as our employees. Afterwards, workshop content, ideas and challenges were discussed at the get-together.
In our presentation by the sustainability team, we not only highlighted our journey since the last Sustainability Day, but also presented concrete facts and figures that illustrate our progress. Compared to 2022, we have achieved impressive savings: 207,138.5 kWh of energy saved at the Empire Riverside Hotel, which is equivalent to the annual consumption of 59 single-family homes. We have also saved 1.9 million litres of water. By digitising processes such as check-in, check-out and menus, we were able to save a total of 1.1 million sheets of paper and printing ink between 2018 and 2023 - the equivalent of 8.5 full-grown spruce trees.
The total reduction in CO2 emissions from 2022 to 2023 was 8.51% at the Empire Riverside Hotel and 3.6% at the Hotel Hafen Hamburg. These are not just empty words, but concrete actions.
We were just as transparent in letting those responsible talk about why one project or another failed. Most of the unanswered questions were clarified in short video interviews.
Our workshops covered a wide range of topics: from the essential role of bees in the global ecosystem to diversity & inclusion in the hotel industry, social integration and job opportunities for homeless people. Victoria Knauer-Hansen shared best practice examples, while Anna Manzke focussed on the self-determination of people with disabilities. Viva con Agua sensitised us to clean drinking water and highlighted the global challenges in this area.
Our 2nd Sustainability Day was not just a milestone, but a clear commitment to sustainable action. We are not only demonstrating a sense of responsibility, but also achieving tangible, measurable success. Our path to greater sustainability is not just an internal goal, but a promise to our guests and the community to make a joint contribution to a more sustainable future.
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