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 products.

But one thing I will never do ...

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 Greener.

As the Hospitali...

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 established your busine
...

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 days of the w...

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 on, extractor fans, gr...

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 promise, how you ...

Make America Great Again has been one of the taglines used by President Donald Trump since 2016. For me, the connotation of this tagline is to make America great at the expense of other nations, economies and even species.

It is no secret that Trump’s presidency is based on a ruthless ideology of capitalism over anything else, but one of the most dangerous aspects of his presidency is the lifted protections for at-risk animals as part of his aggressive rollback of environmental rules.

Biodiversity in the world is at its worst state in human history, 1 million land and marine species across the globe are threatened with extinction.

In a now “usual” spectacle of ignorance, the Trump administration has lifted protections for America’s animals and opened up a huge amount of federal land for oil and gas drilling, coal mining and other industrial activities.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/20/trump-administration-endangered-species-environmental-rules

According to the...

When I first founded Fifty Shades Greener in 2017, my mission was to help Green the Hospitality industry in Ireland. It was a simple mission and quite achievable, little did I know my “vision” would grow legs from there, and 3 years later I would be expanding to international markets.

I have worked in the Hospitality Industry all my life, since I was 17, starting in night clubs, moving to Hotels and climbing the ranks over the years. I loved working in the industry, I have met the most amazing people through the places I have worked in, but as I near my 40’s, there were many reasons why I knew I needed a change.

• The hours are long
• The life style is fast paced
• The patience sometimes starts thinning!!

Discovering the concept of “Green Hospitality” was a life changer for me. All of a sudden, I realised there was more to hospitality than I originally thought. It is not just about serving customers, making budgets and a good RevPar every month. Resource efficiency is an area that H...

If you have not implemented an Environmental Management system at your hospitality business you are spending a lot more than you should in your utilities.

Who is the person responsible right now to decide when your equipment should be turned on or off?

Who is responsible to measure your food waste production?

Who decides when taps should be left running?

If you can not answer those 3 questions then you really need to invest some time on a green programme.

Environmental sustainability to us, at the Fifty Shades Greener office, is all about been efficient with your resources, the energy & water your business uses and the waste it produces. The key here is that reducing those resources, will not only make you a Greener business with less impact on the environment, but it is also going to SAVE YOU MONEY.

I have worked with properties were we have reduced energy use by 30% in the first 4 months, do you know how much savings that would mean to your business? If you want to find out, ge...

Fifty Shades Greener has launched the second round of our Licensed Trainers Network project and is seeking trainers and entrepreneurs worldwide, to join us in our mission to Green the Hospitality industry.

If you are looking for a new business opportunity in the growing market of Green Training then this project might be for you!!

Would you like to deliver the world’s leading green business training and coaching support for the tourism sector on an exclusive basis, in your area?

Would you like to be part of our fast-growing international network of Licensees in this important service?

Would you like to add four new revenue streams and work on a flexible basis to suit your current situation and priorities?

You can work with Fifty Shades Greener to help the Hospitality Industry reduce its Carbon Footprint, become a business sustainability expert in your location and earn in excess of €100,000 per year.

Fifty Shades Fifty Greener is seeking suitable training partner organisations an...