To achieve a sustainable society, Scandic CEO Anders Ehrling issues a challenge to the whole Nordic hotel industry as part of Earth Hour on 23 March. The challenge is to get the industry to replace its old filament bulbs with low-energy bulbs or LEDs.
Scandic already uses over 80 percent low-energy and LED bulbs at its hotels and will be replacing all the rest by 2014 so that 100 percent of the light sources will use eco-aware technology. On average, a Scandic hotel has around 7,000 light sources (bulbs essentially). This means that Scandic uses a million bulbs across 156 hotels.
?Environmental thinking and profit go perfectly well together. We just need more people to realise that. I?m therefore challenging the whole industry to make a contribution towards a more sustainable society. The initial cost of replacing the old light bulbs is higher, but since the low-energy bulbs last longer and use less power, it takes no time at all to make environmental gains and cost savings,? explains Anders Ehrling, CEO of Scandic.
During Earth Hour,?on 23 March from 8.30-9.30 pm, Scandic will be switching off lights at its 156 hotels in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Poland, Belgium and the Netherlands. Scandic is also urging its team members to do their bit for a better environment by switching off lights and electronic equipment at home.
Scandic continues to reduce its sustainability impact
Scandic?s sustainability figures for 2012 show a continued reduction in the areas of water, energy, waste and carbon emissions ? areas where a hotel makes a considerable impression and that are important for our environment and our climate. Scandic has been measuring its sustainability impact since 1996, every month, at every hotel.
?Water, energy, waste and carbon emissions are areas that hotels can influence, through considered purchasing, technical equipment and team member behaviour. We encourage a shrinking carbon footprint through team member training, adapting procedures and policies and purchasing. We have a CO2?target of zero emissions from our own business by 2025,? says Inger Mattsson, Manager Sustainable Business at Scandic.