Food for Thought!
- The Irish hotel sector throws away 24,600 tonnes of avoidable food waste per annum worth €140,000,000 equating to €400,000 per day.
- The catering sector in Ireland discards over 100,000 tonnes of food waste pa worth over €420,000,000 or more than €1,000,000 per day.
- One third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year (1.3bn tonnes) is lost or wasted
- Every year, consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa
The Green Hospitality Programme and GreenTravel.ie today launched the 5th National Conference and Responsible Travel & Tourism Awards 2015.
The conference, which will take place on Thursday 15th October in the Marker Hotel Dublin, will focus heavily on food waste and will address some startling statistics such as, the 100,000 tonnes of food that is wasted per year which is costing the industry over €440,000,000 per year/ in excess of €1,000,000 per day.
Paschal Donohoe TD, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport will attend and speak on the day on the theme of Sustainability – Hospitality’s Blind Spot. Other speakers on the day will include Eoghan O’ Mara Walsh, CEO of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation and Maurice Bergin, Director of Green Hospitality.
The Green Hospitality Programme is the Hospitality, Travel & Tourism resource for Sustainable and Responsible Tourism in Ireland. Green Hospitality is the only Irish developed environmental certification standard for the whole hospitality sector and is committed to assisting the sector to become more environmentally responsible.
The Responsible Travel & Tourism Awards 2015 will also be announced and presented on the day and are designed to identify and celebrate hospitality businesses that are committed to implementing responsible business practices that minimise and reduce their environmental impacts.
Maurice Bergin, Managing Director of the Green Hospitality Programme commented: “Tourism has an integral part to play in the conservation of our environment and in its ability to contribute to the Green Economy. These awards are intended to showcase the exceptional initiatives that businesses are implementing across Ireland and how being sustainable and responsible is not only a moral one but an intelligent economic decision. Our expert panel of speakers will address this theme at our National Conference and we are delighted that Minister Donohoe will be attending to support our ongoing work in this area.”
There are multiple awards available for both travel & tourism businesses and for suppliers who provide services and support that help the sector to reduce its environmental footprint.
New categories to this year’s aware are the Sustainable Menu Award and the Responsible Irish Breakfast Award – with a focus on Irish Provenance and local suppliers.
The awards are open to any business that operates within the Travel, Tourism and Hospitality industry. Applications must be received by Wednesday 7th October 2015. There is no cost to apply.
See www.greenhospitality.ie for further information or to download an application form.
