On Saturday 26th March at 20:30 local time, we celebrate Earth Hour, when millions of people around the world switch off their lights in support of nature and our planet. We even popped off the lights at our exclusive Contiki properties: the Château De Cruz and the Gasthof Schoneck (they look better in candlelight, anyway). But that’s not all we’ve been cooking up at our fave properties.
Dim the lights, and come take a peek…
Changes in action
Back in 2020, we shared a list of Contiki’s 5-year sustainability goals. And while the world was in lockdown, team Contiki has been keeping itself VERY busy. Instead of letting our empty, newly renovated Contiki Château and state-of-the-art Austrian ski chalet, Haus Schöneck sit and gather dust: we got them travel-ready.
If anything, the pandemic helped us to push ahead with some of our sustainability goals even quicker.
So the Château and Schöneck are now ready to welcome you back with more sustainable, conscious experiences and an even more unforgettable stay. (Remember, all our trips are carbon neutral now, so when you’re kicking back at a Château pool party you can feel even better about yourself).
100% of electricity at Schöneck is renewable and powered by water
One of our goals is to source 50% of the electricity we use in our properties from renewable sources by 2025. At Schöneck, we’re proud to say that we’ve achieved this goal! 100% of our electricity is renewable and powered by water, and we also use natural gas found underground, which is more environmentally friendly.
And, from January 1 this year, 100% of the electricity used at the Château is renewable too.
Wanna be on the first people to hang out in our glammed up Château? Check out the Contiki Big Weekender. Pool parties. Late nights dancing in La Cave. Painting and yoga if you’re feeling more wholesome. It’s the ultimate weekender.
Image source:Haus Schöneck, Contiki
The three Rs: Reducing, Recycling and Reusing our food waste
Another one of our goals is to reduce food waste by 50% across our hotel brands by 2025.
At Schöneck, we’ve got biodegradable bins in place to collect food waste (a combined volume of 450 litres – the size of a decent fish tank!). This gets turned into fertiliser to use on the fields nearby, which then generates new food to serve and eat. It’s a full 360 cycle. Prior to the pandemic, we’d also take leftover food from meals with our guests to a local farmer, for him to feed to his animals. Our goal is to focus on reducing food wastage even further – we’ll have processes in place to track this, and manage stock and portion control over the coming months.
We’re also working hard on changes to the Château property so, by the time travellers arrive in the summer, there’ll be a food wastage system in place here, just like Schöneck’s.
Image source:Haus Schöneck, Contiki
We now supply locally sourced and grown food at both the Château and Schöneck
Our third goal at Contiki is to increase local and organic products in our supply chain by 2025.
At Schöneck, most of our food comes from a local farmer. We also supply locally grown produce and seasonal fruit to our guests, to help reduce our carbon footprint and support local communities. At the Château, the majority of food we serve to our guests comes from France (and around 20% is proper locally sourced). We’ll be working to adapt our menus for guests to include even more local ingredients, from local suppliers, as we move forward.
Next month, we’ve got some hugely exciting announcements which builds on this, so stay tuned…
Now, more than ever, it’s about the ways we can Make Travel Matter – and this is Contiki’s commitment to the travel of today, and our future.
Image source:Château, Contiki
