Tipping the Scaling for Net-Zero Success

You’ve probably heard that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single footstep. At a&o Hostels, our journey of scaling our operation to become of the first net-zero hospitality brands in Europe began a decade ago with an examination of our carbon footprint.

As founder and CEO of what’s now Europe’s largest privately owned hostel chain—I’ve been lucky enough to be in a position where my decisions make an impact. Not just regarding ensuring the accessibility of travel for everyone, but also in determining my company’s reputation and influence on the greater industry.

And so roughly a decade ago, we began to analyze our current footprint—by better understanding where we currently stood, we could sufficiently determine a greener path toward success. What we discovered over the coming years through this rigorous process was enlightening: The CO2 emissions generated by a&o Hostels was 9 kg per overnight stay. While this was above industry stands at the time, I knew we could strive to be better.

Following some initial strategies and tactics to reduce our CO2 emissions, we really got moving after the pandemic. Recall, that was the era of “travel shaming,” when climate-conscious people advocated limiting travel to benefit the environment, and most politicians asked people to stay home to stop the spread of Covid-19.

It all added up to incentivize our team to embrace our newfound sustainable mission. What surprised me was, how eager and willing staff of every level were to jump into the effort.

Striving to reach net zero has required scaling our operation to reduce our carbon footprint by 80% to 90%, and we began by looking for ways to achieve it. We found that implementing small, feasible changes to the everyday operations at our hostels would be a perfect opportunity to kick things off. Examples include banning all plastic packaging, installing photovoltaic systems, sourcing local products and buying green electricity and — where possible — the switch from gas to district heating.

Foremost in the plan is the reduction of CO2 emissions generated by the energy our hostels consume. We began by seeking out sources of renewable energy and adding solar panels to the rooftops of buildings that are well-positioned to utilize the sun’s rays. We’ve worked to transition our fleet of vehicles, which we can now say 90% are hybrid or electric. Photovoltaic systems have been installed in 11 hostels, with two more being added to that count before the end of the year. Additionally, all our hostels are equipped with LED lighting, significantly increasing the energy efficiency across our locations.

The second biggest contributor of our CO2 is waste, particularly from packaging for food, housekeeping products, office supplies, and the like. To achieve the necessary reduction, we overhauled our cleaning processes in 2014, implementing the guiding principle of “Eco-Cleaning.” Through this strategy, we eliminate the excessive use of chemicals throughout our cleaning processes by focusing on all natural materials to clean rooms before new guests arrive.

Throughout our hostels, you’ll also find showerhead aerators that alters the water dispensing to have a more balanced mix of air, resulting in 1/3 less water waste. These showerheads in combination with our additional water saving tactics have lead us to save 150 million liters of water since 2006.

Today, the buffet breakfasts available for guests to enjoy at our friendly lobby bars look totally different than they did just a few of years ago. Picture food mostly served from big containers, and beverages offered only in reusable containers instead of throw-away bottles and cans.

The final piece of the a&o Hostels sustainability puzzle is the supply chain. Our goal is for incoming deliveries to travel the shortest distance possible to reach our buildings, the better to reduce emissions from long-haul trucks, cargo ships, aircraft, and more. To start, we seek out suppliers that operate sustainably, even if it requires paying a premium – typically 5% – to ensure that what we buy has a better CO2 footprint than what we could get for less.

An interesting example: a&o Hostels no longer offers bananas, oranges, and other tropical fruits because of the distances they need to travel to reach us. Instead, we seek seasonal fruits from nearby. That means eschewing apples from New Zealand, which tend to be less expensive yet must travel all the way from the South Pacific, and instead patronizing producers primarily in Austria and Germany, where apples of high quality have a shorter way go.

We no longer serve seafood, either: Sustainable seafood is too expensive, and we don’t support unsustainable seafood.

So, as we look to a more sustainable future and as businesses seek to implement more eco-conscious operations into their companies, my advice is to first track what you’re currently emitting. Make sure to align with reputable partners so that you’re not only tracking your own imprint, but also setting realistic goals, and having a larger understanding of what current industry standards are. This will allow you to move forward in a way that’s realistic, specific to your business, and serve as a starting point for a greener tomorrow.

Once each business has an in-depth view of their current sustainability status and roadmap for reaching greener goals, as the business is scaled and more properties, for example, are acquired, it will be easier to mimic the sustainable practices already implemented in the initial business.

As a climate-conscious CEO, my vision is to have these efforts duplicated by every business so that hopefully, in the future, carbon-emitting businesses will be a thing of the past. I know I am not alone on this journey as environmental, social, and governance initiatives (aka, ESG) are becoming more and more of a focus—not just amongst leaders, but to consumers and everyday people worldwide. This vision is part of a global plan to make the earth a better place. Hopefully, we’ll all implement this together.

Written by Oliver Winter.