8 September 2019, Siniloan, Laguna – Sierra Madre Mountain Range. It started with an email on 30 July 2019 from Tomnie Mae Susa, a Customer Relations Specialist at the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) in the Philippines: “We are a team of 10 and we would like to inquire on how can we volunteer to one of your tree planting activities…Our company supports its employees to volunteer for great causes…”.

After confirming the final number of participants and seedlings to plant, eventually the team of 10 became 13 to plant for a greener Philippines and Earth for all on the 8th of September 2019 in the Sierra Madre Mountain Range – longest range in the country.  It only took 35 minutes to complete the planting of 65 trees by the IHG planting team, but they planted each of their 5 trees with great care and precision, as encouraged by the forest guards assisting their planting; to ensure over 85% survival of species planted; typically, this site achieves 90% upwards, thanks to the permanent presence of 27 forest guards.

The IHG volunteers also quality controlled their mini forest planted, to ensure that the soil was compacted enough for the seedling to withstand the harsh winds and rains, that each seedling was tall and straight enough to optimise its sunlight exposure and that all biodegradable seedling bag was attached to the bamboo stake beside each hold, to make sure the roots would not bonsai the tree – ultimately, helping us achieve a near 100 % survival of all species planted.

They then proceeded to trek up the ridge to plant an additional 100 trees sponsored by another FEED Patron, Ecomatcher, who had in the same week ordered 2×1000 trees to be planted at around 1,650 meters up the Sierra Madres. Talk about real Nature enthusiasts!

After trekking back to base camp, they enjoyed the local cuisine prepare by Manang Emy, the leader of the female crew in charge for meals at the Laguna Quezon Land Grant. Manang Emy is an ex-OFW formerly stationed as a chef in Kuwait then Singapore, returning upon retiring to her home town in Barangay Magsaysay, Siniloan, Laguna 10 yrs ago in order to take care of her grandchildren.

Electronic Certificates were prepared for all the IHG planting team, and after the  successful day of restoration, the rains arrived to water our new forest babies.

Thank you IHG Volunteer ECO-WARRIORS -May the Forest be with you Always!

1	Tomnie Mae Susa	8	Millicent Anne Dinozo
2	Necholo Castillo	9	Christian James Rufin
3	Cris Fullon	10	Patrick James Manansala
4	Mariel Erica Mibulos	11	James Nigel Lopena
5	Christopher Niño de Jesus	12	Cary Camba
6	Ana Micaela Rosario Feliciano	13	Lee Martin
7	Rel Christian Prieto

Photo Journal

8 September 2019, Siniloan, Laguna – Sierra Madre Mountain Range. It started with an email on 30 July 2019 from Tomnie Mae Susa, a Customer Relations Specialist at the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) in the Philippines: “We are a team of 10 and we would like to inquire on how can we volunteer to one of your tree planting activities…Our company supports its employees to volunteer for great causes…”.

After confirming the final number of participants and seedlings to plant, eventually the team of 10 became 13 to plant for a greener Philippines and Earth for all on the 8th of September 2019 in the Sierra Madre Mountain Range – longest range in the country.  Following their welcome to site, we stretched and warmed up before the trek to planting site.

It only took 35 minutes to complete the planting of 65 trees by the IHG planting team, but they planted each of their 5 trees with great care and precision, as encouraged by the forest guards assisting their planting; to ensure over 85% survival of species planted; typically, this site achieves 90% upwards, thanks to the permanent presence of 27 forest guards.

The IHG volunteers also quality controlled their mini forest planted, to ensure that the soil was compacted enough for the seedling to withstand the harsh winds and rains, that each seedling was tall and straight enough to optimise its sunlight exposure and that all biodegradable seedling bag was attached to the bamboo stake beside each hold, to make sure the roots would not bonsai the tree – ultimately, helping us achieve a near 100 % survival of all species planted.

They then proceeded to trek up the ridge to plant an additional 100 trees sponsored by another FEED Patron, Ecomatcher, who had in the same week ordered 2×1000 trees to be planted at around 1,650 meters up the Sierra Madres. Talk about real Nature enthusiasts!

After trekking back to base camp, they enjoyed the local cuisine prepare by Manang Emy, the leader of the female crew in charge for meals at the Laguna Quezon Land Grant. Manang Emy is an ex-OFW formerly stationed as a chef in Kuwait then Singapore, returning upon retiring to her home town in Barangay Magsaysay, Siniloan, Laguna 10 yrs ago in order to take care of her grandchildren.

Electronic Certificates were prepared for all the IHG planting team, and after the  successful day of restoration, the rains arrived to water our new forest babies.

Thank you IHG Volunteer ECO-WARRIORS -May the Forest be with you Always!

1	Tomnie Mae Susa	8	Millicent Anne Dinozo
2	Necholo Castillo	9	Christian James Rufin
3	Cris Fullon	10	Patrick James Manansala
4	Mariel Erica Mibulos	11	James Nigel Lopena
5	Christopher Niño de Jesus	12	Cary Camba
6	Ana Micaela Rosario Feliciano	13	Lee Martin
7	Rel Christian Prieto

Photo Journal

GPS Coordinates

How Green Hotels Could Silence Critics and Save the Planet

Ecological Impact of Tourism & Hotels

Many people strongly doubt that eco-friendly hotels could ever have a net-positive environmental impact.

Hotels are traditionally viewed as extremely wasteful businesses, while tourism itself and the associated air-travel, is seen as one of the most polluting activities that individuals can engage in.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) classifies ecotourism as containing five elements:

1. it is nature based, the main goal being to experience a natural environment whether characterized as nature or culture,
2. it features educational components that explain the resources,
3. it is usually a small-scale operation serving few tourists,
4. it has no adverse impact on the sociocultural or natural environment, and
5. it  supports conservation of natural areas; i.e., it generates money to sustain an area.

Although the emphasis is on the harmony of activities with the environment, hotels and accommodation providers are a huge part of the tourism industry, and therefore a significant part of the equation in judging whether tourism can be considered environmentally friendly.

Development and promotion of sustainable tourism destinations creates a big enough niche to allow eco-conscious hotels to flourish, as they serve the needs of customers who’ve chosen to holiday somewhere considerate to the environment, and will probably choose to stay somewhere aligned with those values.

Two Huge Game Changers for Hotels
It’s widely accepted that human activity has been the main driver of climate change from the mid-20th century onwards, two strong changes have emerged in the hospitality industry – regulations and a new clientele.

The first change, brought about by governmental bodies and regulators, as well as international agreements on emissions targets, has had a profound impact on hotels.

Non-compliance with regulations is increasingly detrimental for business growth and a brand’s image.

Secondly, as people became more aware of their personal responsibility for the environment, habits have begun to change; creating a group of potential customers too numerous for hoteliers to ignore.

Once the necessity of going green became obvious, powerful hospitality entities needed to respond. But just opening branches in remote and unspoiled locations wasn’t a viable option; they wouldn’t bring hefty returns, and over-developing those locations would reduce their value in the eyes of eco-travellers.

These self-imposed limitations created an opportunity for independent hotels, making them dominant hospitality providers in remote locations.

In order to break into this new market dominated by independent competitors, two initiatives were launched: 1) ecohotels (eco-friendly subsidiaries of hospitality giants, often with a very limited presence in remote areas) and 2) self-assessment platforms that monitor performance to increase sustainability.

Progress
Ecohotels are starting to successfully tackle three key areas; energy use, carbon footprint, and sustainability.

Many hospitality enterprises established their own environmental departments, a much more credible and effective way to prove accountability than relying on the initiative of individual hotels.

Source: http://kvhmediagroup.com/hotels/blog/how-green-hotels-could-silence-critics-and-save-the-planet/

About IHG

The InterContinental Hotels Group plc, informally InterContinental Hotels or IHG, is a British multinational hospitality company headquartered in Denham, Buckinghamshire, England. IHG has about 842,749 guest rooms and 5,656 hotels across nearly 100 countries. More here: https://www.ihg.com/destinations/us/en/philippines-hotels

Contact FEED

GPS Coordinates

How Green Hotels Could Silence Critics and Save the Planet

Ecological Impact of Tourism & Hotels

Many people strongly doubt that eco-friendly hotels could ever have a net-positive environmental impact.

Hotels are traditionally viewed as extremely wasteful businesses, while tourism itself and the associated air-travel, is seen as one of the most polluting activities that individuals can engage in.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) classifies ecotourism as containing five elements:

1. it is nature based, the main goal being to experience a natural environment whether characterized as nature or culture,
2. it features educational components that explain the resources,
3. it is usually a small-scale operation serving few tourists,
4. it has no adverse impact on the sociocultural or natural environment, and
5. it  supports conservation of natural areas; i.e., it generates money to sustain an area.

Although the emphasis is on the harmony of activities with the environment, hotels and accommodation providers are a huge part of the tourism industry, and therefore a significant part of the equation in judging whether tourism can be considered environmentally friendly.

Development and promotion of sustainable tourism destinations creates a big enough niche to allow eco-conscious hotels to flourish, as they serve the needs of customers who’ve chosen to holiday somewhere considerate to the environment, and will probably choose to stay somewhere aligned with those values.

Two Huge Game Changers for Hotels
It’s widely accepted that human activity has been the main driver of climate change from the mid-20th century onwards, two strong changes have emerged in the hospitality industry – regulations and a new clientele.

The first change, brought about by governmental bodies and regulators, as well as international agreements on emissions targets, has had a profound impact on hotels.

Non-compliance with regulations is increasingly detrimental for business growth and a brand’s image.

Secondly, as people became more aware of their personal responsibility for the environment, habits have begun to change; creating a group of potential customers too numerous for hoteliers to ignore.

Once the necessity of going green became obvious, powerful hospitality entities needed to respond. But just opening branches in remote and unspoiled locations wasn’t a viable option; they wouldn’t bring hefty returns, and over-developing those locations would reduce their value in the eyes of eco-travellers.

These self-imposed limitations created an opportunity for independent hotels, making them dominant hospitality providers in remote locations.

In order to break into this new market dominated by independent competitors, two initiatives were launched: 1) ecohotels (eco-friendly subsidiaries of hospitality giants, often with a very limited presence in remote areas) and 2) self-assessment platforms that monitor performance to increase sustainability.

Progress
Ecohotels are starting to successfully tackle three key areas; energy use, carbon footprint, and sustainability.

Many hospitality enterprises established their own environmental departments, a much more credible and effective way to prove accountability than relying on the initiative of individual hotels.

Source: http://kvhmediagroup.com/hotels/blog/how-green-hotels-could-silence-critics-and-save-the-planet/

About IHG

The InterContinental Hotels Group plc, informally InterContinental Hotels or IHG, is a British multinational hospitality company headquartered in Denham, Buckinghamshire, England. IHG has about 842,749 guest rooms and 5,656 hotels across nearly 100 countries. More here: https://www.ihg.com/destinations/us/en/philippines-hotels

Contact FEED