• EC3 "Green IT" Award 
• Langham Hotels International - Paving the way to a sustainable future
• A self grown organic garden in four months - Mövenpick Resort El Quseir
• A National Landscape emerges from the Wilderness
• Measure it, Manage it, Improve it
• The People Behind EC3 - Kathy Colgan
• EC3 Global  - SEED Award 2009

EC3 "Green IT" Award

EC3 Global was announced winner of the Australian Computer Society (ACS) award for Green IT (corporate) on Monday 16th March. The Green IT Award recognises an organisation who has shown leadership in Queensland, towards implementing or persuading organisations or the community to use ICT to contribute to the health of our environment and so provide long-term sustainability.

Other companies participating in the awards included Griffith University, Telstra, UQ, Suncorp, CSIRO and many more.

Green Globe Lite is an affordable, web based program developed specifically to help tourism operators implement and assess their sustainable practices annually. Green Globe Lite assists businesses to set and achieve sustainability targets through completing a Health Check and taking a quantitative environmental performance assessment.

For more information on the EC3 Global ICT team please refer to www.ec3global.com or contact Mark Allen at mark.allen@ec3global.com

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Langham Hotels International - Paving the way to a sustainable future

Langham Hotels International (LHI) is one of the leaders in the Tourism Industry in its vision of creating a sustainable world. The hotel group, which includes icons such as the Langham Hotel London and the Langham Huntington Hotel & Spa in Pasadena, has made significant environmental improvements to their operations and have committed themselves to changing the way that they interact with guests.

Reducing LHI’s environmental footprint in August 2007 LHI’s Chairman, Dr. K.S Lo, announced his vision “to be the most sustainable hospitality company in the world by 2010”. By 2008, The Langham, Auckland won the Green Ribbon Award as the most sustainable business in New Zealand.

The Langham, Auckland's Measurable Successes:

1. Seeking third party auditing, benchmarking and certification with EC3 Global
2. Reducing ‘waste’ sent to landfill by 95%
3. Replacing petrol limousines with hybrid limousines (cost of petrol reduced by 40%)
4. Introducing ‘little’ operational changes with big impacts (20% reduction in water consumption, 16-18% reduction in energy consumption)
5. Taking action to gauge supplier’s environmental integrity and form sustainability partnerships.
6. Developing a Sustainability Portal aimed at guests education.

“Everybody can make a difference; it doesn’t matter how big or small. With all of the information that is going on around us, why would you not make a difference?”  Mr. John Dick, Vice President - Eaton Hotel International

For more information on EC3 Global Certification Programme please refer to www.ec3global.com

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A self grown organic garden in four months - Mövenpick Resort El Quseir

The El Quseir Mövenpick Resort in Egypt has been a Green Globe member for more than five years and has already achieved Certified Gold Status. This is the result of the El Quseir Mövenpick Resort’s commitment to environmentally friendly and sustainable practice as well as the hard work of the Chief Engineer and Green Globe Coordinator of the hotel, Maged Soliman.

In order to “add more green garden” to the hotel area, the El Quseir Mövenpick Resort has in the last few months created a fruit and vegetable garden. On a former 141336m2 sand area the hotel is now growing an organic garden under the care of seven staff members and the overall responsibility of Engineer Haytham El Shemy.  Not only do staff work on the garden but guests also.  During their stay at the resort each guest is given the opportunity to care for a particular plant in the garden.

For more information on EC3 Global Certification Programme please refer to www.ec3global.com

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A National Landscape emerges from the Wilderness

Australia's Coastal Wilderness (ACW) is a region located in the South-Eastern corner of Australia covering sections of both southern New South Wales and East Gippsland in Victoria. The region is host to a rare un-spoilt wilderness coast line and a rich diversity of flora and fauna.  The region has been recognised as one of Australia's eight National Landscapes by Tourism Australia and Parks Australia. As part of the process to manage, preserve and promote this exceptional landscape the Steering Committee have appointed EC3 Global to prepare a Tourism Master Plan. Due for completion is June, the Masterplan involves significant local community and stakeholder consultation.

“Despite the long recognized importance of nature based tourism to the national economy there has never been an integrated planning approach to the delivery of our world class tourism experiences” Bruce Leaver, First Assistant Secretary, Parks Australia.

To find out more on National Landscapes click here: http://www.tourism.australia.com/Marketing.asp?lang=EN&sub=0449) or contact Mark Olsen at mark.olsen@ec3global.com

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Measure it, Manage it, Improve it

Our Mantra at EC3 is: “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”

Across the world companies are beginning to recognise that what gets measured gets done: Recording and tracking your operational performance is an essential element of an effective environmental sustainability plan.

Monitoring and benchmarking your performance will help you to:

• Manage and track your use of resources over time
• Lower utility costs by tracking the performance of current systems and technology
• Compare your performance against other companies in your sector
• Identify new areas for operational improvement and risk management
• Help managers become more strategic in their planning
• Keep ahead of impending legislation and regulation

Here are some points to keep  in mind:

1. Start by keeping it simple: you don’t need a hundred metrics – just start with a few key indicators
2. Appoint dedicated staff with responsibility for data collection
3. Introduce a measurement and monitoring system across the company
4. If you don’t have any metrics start with the International EarthCheck System

 “Many of the world’s largest companies regardless of industry, continuously benchmark themselves against competitors and peers from other sectors. Why? Because this helps fuel their drive for continuous improvement. Not only does it help by indicating how efficient and how effective you are compared to your peers, but it also focuses you on how you could be even better.”
Even Frydenberg, Vice President of Sixsigma Europe,Africa and Middle East, Starwood Hotels and Resorts.


The People Behind EC3: Kathy Colgan

Kathy Colgan
Certified Green Globe Auditor & Trainer
With Green Globe Asia Pacific (now managed by EC3 Global) since 2008.
 
Since her appointment in early 2008, Senior Green Globe Auditor and Trainer, Kathy Colgan has been an integral part of Green Globe and EC3 team providing Certification Services under both the Company and Community Standards. Kathy has supported up-skilling Green Globe Auditors and most recently facilitated The Green Globe Auditor Training Workshop held in Hong Kong.

Kathy has extensive experience in training within the sustainability industry and the complement of over 20 years experience in the fields of education and natural resource management throughout the United Kingdom, Asia, The America’s and the Pacific. With vast natural resource management experience in both the Public Sector and the Private Sector, Kathy draws from her experience when delivering Green Globe Training.

Kathy has provided Training and Certification Services on behalf of EC3 throughout Australia, Asia and utilised her personal travel to work with Approved Green Globe Auditor Dr Gustavo Ramos  in Mexico working with the Huatulco Community. Kathy is a member of the Green Globe Programme Review Committee and contributed to version 3.3 of the Company Standard and its associated policies and procedures. Kathy was recently interviewed by CNN for a pre-recorded interview on sustainable tourism, talking about EC3 Global’s products and services.


EC3 Global  - SEED Award 2009


Create a case study documentary and you could win a year’s free membership, and be in the running for the EC3 Global SEED Award.

All shortlisted films will be screened on our website, and the grand prize winner will also be announced there. They'll win a free year’s membership, plus a dedicated webpage hosting their documentary and organisational background at www.ec3global.com. for more information please Click the image below.