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CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY – GARDEN HOTELS
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY – GARDEN HOTELS
Garden Hotels is a family company that cares about the environment, local communities, suppliers and the surrounding area and it has, for many years, decided to include this commitment in its business strategy. CSR revolves around Responsible Tourism which is based on three fundamental pillars: social sustainability, economic sustainability and environmental sustainability.
This firm commitment, in alignment with the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals Report, is present throughout the company’s governing policies, such as:
- CSR Policy
- Environmental Policy
- Quality Policy
- Human Rights and Good Labour Practice Policy
- Health and Safety Policy
- Local Community Support Policy
As a demonstration of our continuous improvement, and in turn, of credibility amongst our clients and collaborators, Garden Hotels holds different sustainability certifications in its establishments, such as:
1. AREA OF SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
We work very closely with projects promoting social integration, equality and insertion projects in our community.
1.1. SUPPORTING THE LOCAL COMMUNITY AND GROUPS OF INTEREST
- Prioritising purchases from local suppliers, reaching 80%.
- Promoting local and seasonal produce (km 0).
- Promoting organic produce in the Balearic Islands by buying these products and with the creation of Organic gardens at our hotels.
- Purchasing the majority of our stationery products from Amadip Esment, a not-for-profit organisation that supports social integration.
- Promoting tradition and local culture amongst our clients.
- Organising Beach Clean-Up Days to increase awareness of the importance of respecting the environment.
1.2. GOOD WORKING PRACTICES AND PROMOTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
- Implementation of the Equality Plan in every area of the business.
- Corporate culture policies that encourage a positive working environment, comradeship and fewer inequalities.
- Professional training programmes to encourage personal and professional development amongst our staff.
- Collaboration with various workplace integration programmes: agreement with the “Pa i Mel” organisation.
1.3. SOCIAL ACTION
Recurring collaborations and/or agreements with different not-for-profit organisations and social campaigns.
- Deixalles Foundation
- Red Cross
- Sonrisa Médica
- Aspanob
- Action against Hunger
- Balearic Hotelier Sector’s Operation Kilo
- Vicente Ferrer Foundation
- Amadip Esment Foundation
- Dentists on Wheels, starting in 2021
- Cáritas
2. AREA OF STRATEGIC-ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY
We promote economic growth that generates equitable wealth based on innovation, respect for the environment and alliances with our collaborating groups.
2.1 INVESTMENT TO MODERNISE OUR ESTABLISHMENTS
- • Upgrading our infrastructures in order to provide maximum quality services.
- • Ensuring compliance with regulations and legal requirements.
- • Prioritising new technologies for an efficient use of resources.
- • Restoring and reusing materials to promote a circular economy.
2.2 FOCUS ON THE CLIENT, QUALITY AND INNOVATION AS A COMPANY PHILOSOPHY
- • A “Garden Experience Ambassador” is present at every establishment and acts as ambassador for our corporate culture, guaranteeing a fantastic experience for our guests and promoting loyalty by extending a warm welcome, listening to what they need, surprising them and ensuring they feel special.
- • Accessible and efficient internal online systems for evaluating customer satisfaction, with the aim of continuous improvement and being able to provide a rapid response in the event of non-compliance with expectations.
- • Our own programme of high quality recreational activities adapted to different types of clients, encompassed within the framework of our corporate culture, and always under the premise of respect for the environment.
- • Client loyalty programme to reward them for placing their trust in us.
- • Internal project to improve standardized procedures and control productivity via Business Intelligence applications (Glad 2 Link, Click View, Indicadoressostenibles.com)
- • Internal Quality Control Management System focused on the standardization of operating instructions and an efficient control of procedures.
- • Participation in the Destination Quality Programme (SICTED) promoted by local businesses and entities in the Balearic Islands.
2.3 HEALTH AND SAFETY SYSTEMS AND PROJECTS
- The company has its own Risk Prevention in the Workplace system.
- Health & Safety programme with control plans and food hygiene and water safety audits in all our establishments.
- Safety Consciousness programme with Covid-19 preventative measures in place at hotels and offices.
- “Cardio-protected Hotel” certification in all of our establishments.
- Inclusion in the FACE programme (Spanish Federation of Coeliac Associations)
2.4. DONATIONS AND SPONSORSHIPS
- Active participation in the CAEB project for the Business Alliance against Extreme Poverty with the Vicente Ferrer Foundation (donation to acquire housing in India to empower women in villages in the region of Anantapur).
- Specific donations for areas affected by natural catastrophes.
- Sponsorship of the Garden Hotels Mallorca Volley women’s team.
- Sponsorship of the Mallorcan tri-athlete Marga Fullana.
- Sponsorship of the Campanet football team.
- Collaboration with the Garden Hotels Challenge women’s cycle race.
2.5. PRESENCE IN ASSOCIATIONS AND PROJECTS FOR INNOVATION AND IMPROVEMENT IN THE SECTOR
- Members of the board of the Impulsa Foundation (platform for strategic knowledge and regional interaction that works to facilitate decision-making by economic and social agents, which has a significant impact on the global competitiveness of the Balearic Islands).
- Members of ACH (Balearic Hotel Chain Association), currently in the role of President.
- Members of FEHM (Mallorca Hotel Business Federation).
- Members of ABEF (Balearic Family Business Association), that defends the family business as the motor that drives a productive economy and is a generator of employment in the region.
- Collaboration with the “Sustainable Hotel Network in the Baleares”, a network of hotels committed to responsible tourism on the islands, promoting benchmarking of sustainability indicators for continuous improvement.
- Partner in APD (Association for Managerial Progression), whose mission is to contribute to a better prepared and more united managerial community, in an exclusive environment by sharing ideas and discussing real solutions for common challenges.
3. AREA OF ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
With regards to environmental sustainability, at Garden Hotels we have been loyal to our EcoGarden philosophy for over 20 years, forming part of a 360º environmental awareness that involves staff, clients, suppliers and everyone in our vicinity.
WATER
- Using a damp Eco mop for cleaning floors that reduces chemical and water consumption.
- Mechanisms to optimise grey water consumption such as highly efficient flow regulators for taps, double cistern in WCs, movement sensor taps in public bathrooms…
- Eco-friendly towel and linen changes when requested by the client.
- Automatic irrigation systems and timers set to avoid hours when the sun is at its strongest. Use of pluviometer to shut down the irrigation system automatically in the event of rainfall.
- Predominance of native plants in our gardens.
- Reusing grey water resulting from rejected water from the osmotic water production facility, for toilet cisterns and/or irrigation in some areas.
- Meters exist in all sections to ensure an exhaustive control of daily consumption, avoiding leaks and deviations.
- Posters and awareness campaigns to encourage the client to collaborate in using water responsibly.
- Control measures to ensure sanitary waste water that is discharged to the municipal sewer system complies with the parameters established by local regulations.
ENERGY
- Purchasing criteria for appliances and electronic equipment that takes into account the energy efficiency rating.
- Automatic shut-down of air conditioning systems when windows/doors are open.
- Energy efficient or LED lighting throughout the facilities.
- Heat recovery systems in most of our air conditioning plants which enables energy to be used for heating water in heated swimming pools, for example.
- Efficiency devices monitoring the pressure points of the water circuit.
- Exhaustive preventative maintenance to optimise the performance of machinery.
WASTE
Philosophy based on the 4 Rs: Reduce- Reuse- Recycle-Recover:
- “No plastic” strategy for the elimination of all single-use plastic items and their replacement with sustainable alternatives.
- Reduction in the consumption of bottled water by providing employees and customers with refillable bottles and purified water dispensing machines.
- Elimination of single-use amenities in the rooms and their replacement with refillable dispensers.
- Purchasing criteria that includes the reduction of packaging, reducing the amount of containers.
- Displaying products in bulk instead of individual portions at the buffets.
- “Paper Less” policy, reducing the amount of paper used and therefore reducing associated waste.
- Buying toner that can be recycled by the supplier.
- Each establishment has all the containers necessary for the separation and subsequent recycling of waste products, both for use by employees and customers.
- Each establishment separates the organic matter generated in the kitchen and the remains of garden pruning so that it can be treated and used to produce organic compost (Circular economy project promoted by the company that has the support of the Ministry of the Environment of the Balearic Government).
- Prioritising restoration of furniture to extend its useful life and minimise the generation of bulky waste.
- Collection of used cooking oil and its delivery to an authorised waste management company for recycling and use as biodiesel.
We have a system in place for the correct management of waste classified as dangerous and/or special (empty containers from chemical products, aerosols, batteries, obsolete fluorescents bulbs, etc….) and its delivery to authorised waste management companies.
We have analytic tools that allow us to quantify the amount of recycled and/or reused waste, according to type.
CARBON FOOTPRINT
- Contracting energy suppliers that hold a certificate of 100% renewable origin for all our hotels and offices.
- Promoting the use of hybrid and electric vehicles with recharging stations in several hotels and at our offices.
- Investments in energy efficiency throughout our facilities to reduce energy consumption, emissions into the atmosphere and our carbon footprint.
- Progressive modernisation of our kitchen refrigeration facilities with centralised systems and the use of glycol water as a cooling system in addition to substituting the refrigerant gases in all of our refrigeration facilities for gases with a lower impact on global warming.
Thanks to these actions, we have received various awards and/or recognitions in the last few years:
- TUI UMWELT CHAMPION at the Playa Garden Hotel & Spa for 4 consecutive years.
- Re-Think Hotel 2018, an award given to the 10 best sustainability and hotel rehabilitation projects in Spain.
- Tourism Prize 2017 awarded by the Balearic Tourism Agency for the Composting Project (Circular Economy).
- Innobankia Prize 2019 awarded to the best sustainable business and recognising excellence in the development of pioneering sustainability projects such as the use of organic waste generated at the hotel to produce compost.
- First hotel chain at international level to receive the AENOR Circular Economy Strategy certificate.
- Awarded Best Sustainable Tourism Project at the Tourism Innovation Awards 2021.
- Green Garden Aparthotel renews the EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) sustainability certificate in 2021, which it has held since 2017.
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS WITHIN OUR CSR
“NO PLASTIC” PROJECT
A. Substitution of amenities for eco-friendly dispensers:
- We have replaced amenities with polycarbonate refillable dispensers. Thanks to our collaboration with the Mallorcan company “Tot Herba”, who make the shampoo, conditioner and shower gel from a 100% locally grown almond base, we are able to save 24.604 plastic bottles every season in just one hotel.
B. Substitution of plastic drinking straws for biodegradable ones:
- We have replaced plastic/cardboard straws with edible, eco-friendly and biodegradable alternatives.
C. Sustainable water bottle
- A further initiative is our Tritan recyclable water bottle. Buy one and you can refill it at any of the purified water machines on the premises.
BIO CORNER PROJECT
We aim to offer a gastronomy that is based, whenever possible, on seasonal and local produce (km 0) and promoting the “Balearic produce” label amongst our clients and thanks to a collaboration with the Mallorcan company “Sa Teulera”, you will find 100% organic produce at the BioCorner at the Playa Garden Hotel & Spa.
ORGANIC LAMB
For more than 4 years we have been buying, during the season and weekly, approximately 150 kilos of organic lamb during the holiday season so that we can offer you excellent quality and local produce whilst helping local farmers and supporting the local economy at the same time. This collaboration is possible thanks to an agreement with the Organic Food Producers Cooperative – Me Ecològic – Balears.
SOCIAL AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY PROJECT
The Garden Hotels chain has pioneered a project that will promote sustainable management of waste generated by tourism and that can be used to make organic compost and help local agriculture. A ‘circular economy’ project that not only recycles waste, but reuses it by turning it into compost, thus completing the circle of this circular economy with a benefit for the planet. It is a project that revitalises Balearic agriculture, minimises impact on the environment and supports the local economy. This project is financed with funds from the sustainability tax and counts on support from the Ministry for the Environment and Territory.