Reducing carbon emissions should not be left to the large corporations alone. There are small changes and steps we can ALL learn to reduce our own carbon footprint.

Yes, I agree that for real impact it is vital that large corporations and governments adopt different policies when it comes to protecting our environment. But it does not take away from the fact that there many ways in which WE can assist in promoting a more circular economy and a culture of sustainability.

If you are at that point where you want to make changes but you do not know how or where to start, we are here to help.

Let’s start with those simple daily, weekly or monthly activities that impact the environment.

I can come up with one easy list of things, amongst many others:

• The energy we use
• The water we use
• The waste we produce
• The way we travel to and from places
• The purchases we make 

If you have been following us for a while, you will know by now that we concentrate on the...

“Fly if you like, I won't judge you” was a statement that Greta Thunberg gave to The Sunday Times Magazine as she turned 18.

This sentence really got me thinking about influence and divisive ideals and opinions. Something we are seeing more and more in modern society in the midst of this Trump era, is the rise of the far right all over the world and more worryingly - extremism. 

The definition of polarising is ‘to cause something, especially something that contains different people or opinions, to divide into two completely opposing groups: “The debate is becoming polarised and there seems to be no middle ground.”’

We have all seen first hand the damage that a destructive leader can do during Trump’s presidency, culminating in the assault on the Capitol Building on January 6th. 

Radicalism or fundamentalism of any “idea” is never a good path to follow. We need to allow that as humans,...

The modern society we have collectively created has its pros and cons...

Many might feel that having supermarkets where you can buy EVERYTHING in one place, is a welcomed development in our society. It seems that convenience is prioritised above all else.

Has this also led to an enormous disconnect from our food chain? Have we lost the sense of where our food comes from? I am afraid the answer is yes.

The harsh reality is that many children in our larger cities may have never seen a live cow, a chicken or a pig. They learn about them in primary school and see pictures in books or cartoons, but the correlation that those animals end up on our dinner plates as pork chops or chicken wings, is lost in translation.

I remember when I was a child, we often spent some of our holidays in a small rural village in Spain with our nanny and her family. We had a full time nanny back then as both my parents worked long hours and travelled a lot for work.

For me, those summers were truly an amazing...

First of all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!

I hope 2021 is kinder to all of us than 2020 has been...

As we all delve into New Year’s resolutions, I wanted to start my year talking about a country I admire and have followed the progress of for a few years now - Costa Rica.

This blog, is a little longer than my regular blogs because I found the story of the development of Costa Rica so interesting and inspiring that I couldn't make it any shorter!

The moral of the story for me, is that a government that invests in protecting its natural resources and educating its people on the importance of the same, is on a winning trajectory.

In the era of the world wide web and fake news, it is difficult to determine which “facts” are real or not so to write this blog I partnered with Luis Murillo from Costa Rica and I found the story of their sustainable developments fascinating. 

Here is what Luis told me:

According to Luis, there were 4 elements of the history of...

While I am sure you have all seen by now many posts about “Shopping local this Christmas” the message is soooo important that I could not pass this opportunity to give you my opinion.

According to digitalcommerce360, Amazon has reported it’s most profitable quarter this year increasing sales by 32.8% globally.

Now we are talking about a company here that was already making BILLIONS before the pandemic, well now, thanks to us all, they have a record revenue of 96.15 BILLION.

You are welcome Jeff!!!

Meanwhile back in the ranch, our local shops are suffering one of the hardest years of their history.

How many times have you passed by a place that has closed down and though “Oh that was a lovely shop, I wonder why it's closed” When was the last time you actually went in and spent money there?

Don’t get me wrong I am not preaching, I can admit that has happened to me too and then I’ve realised I contributed to their closure by not buying their...

Fifty Shades Greener, and the Educational Training Boards of Ireland, headed by KWETB, have partnered to deliver Environmental Training to the hospitality industry workforce in Ireland.

This project is funded by SOLAS and there will be no cost at all for businesses.

It has never been more important than now, that we provide opportunities for the workforce to upskill and learn something new in times of uncertainty within the industry.

The Fifty Shades Greener training programmes are practical, action based courses teaching employees and managers how to measure, monitor, control and reduce their business utilities.

“For me a Green business is one that reduces it’s impact on the environment, and we can achieve this by reducing our use of energy & water and production of waste. Reducing our utilities will not only reduce our Carbon emissions but it will also save us money. It is all about been resource efficient” explains Raquel Noboa, founder of Fifty Shades...

It does not feel like award season this year, does it?

The fancy dinners in black ties are long gone from our diary’s as we try to stay away from social contact and everything we now as “normal”.

But it stills remains, more important than ever, to recognize those businesses that achieve a level of excellence. Those businesses that despite the current pandemic, are putting the environment at the forefront of their operations.

I know a few of them….Do you know any?

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

We want to hear what you have done on your sustainability journey, and we want to recognize your efforts.

Fifty Shades Greener has launched the International Green Business award recognition. This is NOT A COMPETITION against your peers, but it recognizes and achieved standard, for any business in any industry.

In order to apply you will need to:

• Summarise the last 12 months of your green programme
• Provide environmental training to your employees
• Demonstrate you have...

Waste is one of the most colossal challenges of our times. Waste production continues to increase and Ireland is now facing a potential waste mountain with no place to go. For some facts and stats continue reading to the end of this blog.

The first step to reducing waste at your hospitality business – CHECK YOUR BINS!

I am aware this is less than glamorous but unfortunately it is the only way you can learn what waste you are producing. I myself had to carry this out over a period of months when I was green manager at Hotel Doolin. It is a less than savoury task BUT one thing is for sure, I learned A LOT from it and I reduced our waste by 30% in one year by applying very simple actions - the  first one being WATCHING YOUR BINS!

Checking your bins allows you to understand what waste is being produced at your business, enabling you to take the necessary steps to either reduce or abolish certain waste completely.

Check your bins at different times of the day and different...

When was the last time you took time out of your day to review the energy your hotel or restaurant uses?

Following staff wages, your energy consumption could possibly be one of the largest costs to your business. Yet every week I meet hospitality managers that don’t have control over their energy consumption.

I always found it funny, I spent 4 and a half years in hotel management training. They told me how to budget, how to forecast, how to control staff wages…. However, nobody ever told me that when I finally became a hotel manager, I would also be in charge of a building. 

A building that inevitably comes with high costs due to running energy, water and waste.

In my early hotel management years I was often assigned the early duty manager shift, where I would walk into work at 6.30am and meet the only person up earlier than me! My best buddy -  the breakfast chef!

For years I witnessed breakfast chefs arrive on duty and turn all the lights on, all the ovens...

As adults, and in particular as professionals in our industry, it is hard to admit that there might be a better way to do things.

We have to be open to change.

We have to be whiling to admit the errors of our ways, and learn a new skill that will allow us to run more efficient businesses.

We have to be whiling to change the way we have always done things.

What if I was to tell you there are things you can do right now, today, without the need of capital investment to reduce your Hotel’s carbon footprint and SAVE YOU MONEY every day?

Would it be worth to dedicate some time this week to learn how?

The secret is that it all starts with behavioural change, with a willingness to learn something knew and apply it to your daily routine.

Changing yours and your team’s behaviour might seem an impossible task, but it is no different than training a brand new employee. If someone joins your team, you will be telling them about your company’s mission, your customer service...