The Ritz Carlton, Berlin has become the first five-star hotel in Europe to be awarded by the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). And from the sounds of it, this wasn’t an easy feat. It took from water conservation to energy saving, organizing staff action teams, and even beckoning bees for the luxury property to be certified ‘sustainable.’ The tough taskmaster, EMAS is a European Community management tool designed to improve the environmental performance of organizations, and it carries out annual updates to keep the set standards in check. A Ritz-Carlton Environmental Action Conservation Team (REACT) has been set up at the hotel to see the same, and a staff member has also been appointed to spearhead the sustaining processes.
Says General Manager Robert Petrović, “it is a tribute to the hard work of everyone at the hotel that sustainability is at the heart of everything we do.” The hotel’s efforts have led to a 50 percent reduction in water consumption. Energy-efficient hand dryers have encouraged a paperless environment. Also, the hotel has collaborated with Recycling Berlin to convert the minimized paper waste into school notebooks and turned down all other disposable artifacts. However, there is one disposable, and that is the hotel-produce of honey, from the three beehives installed on the roof, to be served up as part of a special bio breakfast.
Now there are environmental amenities aplenty to the five-star expanse that includes Berlin suite accommodations designed by German artists and a Tea Lounge for that ultimate piano tearoom experience. Not to mention the Club Lounge of The Ritz-Carlton, which boasts of a fascinating Berlin view and toasts to the Potsdam Platz, the Tiergarten, and the colorful Sony Center, as well as to its proximity to the premier National Gallery, The Reichstag, and the Chamber Music Hall. At the heart of ravishing cosmopolitan revelry, “the Ritz-Carlton, Berlin is now the first five-star hotel in Europe to combine exclusive luxury with sustainability.”
[Via – Ritz-Carlton]
