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.

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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...

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,...

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...

Last week during a Radio interview the presenter said: I love your company name, why did you chose Fifty Shades Greener?

The question brought me back to 2017, when I was an enthusiastic entrepreneur at the very start of my journey. The film Fifty Shades Darker had just been released and while it receive criticism it was a big hit in the box office.

I am not a fun of the movie and I have not read the book, but there was something about the name Fifty Shades Darker that stock with me.

The connotation that dark or green or any colour can have many different shades, resonated with the training programme I had already started drawing on my mind, one that would bring a business through different shades of Green.

I checked in with my husband as I normally do with important decisions and his reaction was: “Ugh. No, you are going to be dealing with businesses and business people, they will not like that name”

I normally listen to his advice, otherwise I would not ask, so I...

This week, I thought Id give you a break from telling you my opinion on something or other and instead, I wanted to highlight a business that is walking the walk and talking the talk when it comes to their Green Programme.

Dating back to the 18^th century, Whatley Manor is a beautifully restored manor house and spa nestles in 12 acres of gardens. Apart from their impressive award winning restaurant, what most attracts me to this property is their sustainability programme, which kick started in 2019.

Last week I had the pleasure to find out more about how they began their journey from Sue Williams, General Manager.

“The owners of Whatley Manor and I were discussing the subject of our operations impact on the environment and it was evident that we all had strongly held views that we wanted to focus hard on becoming more ethical operators both on property and in the community. We very quickly got underway as all parties were aligned.”

Having the owners and top management...

It is estimated that we waste about a third of all the food we produce for human consumption. A third!!! That’s a lot of food.

Producing food requires a huge environmental effort, land that has been deforested, species that have been driven to extinction, indigenous populations that have been made homeless and uprooted soil that has been degraded and a huge amount of water used – all to produce food that we then just throw away.

This is not to scare you, unfortunately this is the reality of the food waste problem we have worldwide. These are facts. It is hard for us in the western world to understand the devastating effects that food waste has on the environment, because we can’t see it with our own eyes.

Another devastating effect of food waste, is that when the majority of it ends up in our landfill bins, it decomposes without access to oxygen and creates methane, which is 23x more deadly than carbon dioxide.

Every which way you look at it food waste is a major...

Hotels and Restaurants spend a good portion of their sales paying for utilities, the energy, water and waste that takes to run your business, can be the second largest cost you will incur over the year.

So when was the last time you trained your team to SAVE YOU MONEY??? Or have you ever?

Teaching your employees the right behaviour around the use of energy and water and production of waste is the KEY element to not only reduce your running costs, but also to run a greener, more efficient business, and to reduce your Carbon emissions. It is that simple!

I worked in the Hospitality industry all my life, since I was 17, I went through a Hotel Management Diploma for 4 years, NOBODY, in my 20 year career, told me I was behaving the wrong way around utilities, and I was spending more money than I should.

Nobody told me that switching off the over for an extra hour a day could save my workplace €2,000

Nobody told me knowing the water flow rate of our taps would help me make smarter...

Greening the Hospitality Industry in Kenya!

This week I am delighted to announce a new partnership between Fifty Shades Greener and Sustainable Travel and Tourism Agenda (STTA), based in Kenya.

Our collaboration, will see the Fifty Shades Greener Online Programmes deployed to Kenya’s Hospitality businesses and employees in 2020 and 2021.

STTA is an expert in sustainability of tourism, providing solutions for destination support in Africa. This support includes advisory services for tourism development strategy, tourism research consultancy, and sustainability training. The company has well established training programs for team learning and professional development, which makes them the perfect agent to partner with Fifty Shades Greener. Since its inception in 2013, STTA has been successfully mentoring sustainability leaders in the continent, and is thus a trusted training provider for tourism professionals. STTA commits to using its knowledge platform and networks to support...

If your business is running a Green programme to reduce it’s carbon footprint it seems logical to use your green journey as a marketing tool.

The travel agent central statistics released a report in 2019 were it stated that:

87% of global travellers want to travel more sustainably

78% of traveller would pay more to stay in Green certified accommodation

So a green programme is not only good for the planet, it is also what society and your customers are seeking more and more in recent years.

Running a Green Hotel can increase your customer footfall and rates, but there are a few top tips to follow, in order to market your green journey in the right way.

1. NEVER EVER say you do more than what you do. This is my number one rule, always be honest and never over exaggerate your achievement, there is nothing worse than green washing.
2. Document your team’s journey through videos, photos and social media posts. Are you having a Green Team meeting? Take a photo, disclose what you...