Responsible Business – Let’s take responsibility

Taking responsibility for the environment and local community has been an important part of the commitment of the Rezidor Hotel Group to sustainable development for many years. In 2001, this commitment was fortified and placed within the scope of a programme called Responsible Business (RB). Each hotel has a unique RB Action Plan covering areas such as community outreach, cultural heritage, employee and children's rights, health and safety, as well as environmental improvements. That tradition continues with the Responsible Business programme at this green hotel in Switzerland. To read more about the RB programme, please visit www.responsiblebusiness.rezidor.com.

The hotels are engaged with both local charity groups and the Rezidor Hotel Group corporate international charity organisation, the World Childhood Foundation. The mission of Childhood is to defend the rights of the child and to promote better living conditions for vulnerable and exploited children at risk all over the world. Visit www.childhood.org for further information.

Below are some of the RB activities and achievements of this hotel:
Responsible Business is not just about the environment; the Rezidor Hotel Group also takes into account social and economic issues concerning the local community.

Charity/people:

• Fundraising for the Theodora Foundation, such as during the Responsible Business Action Month in September 2008, where a total of CHF 2,000.00 was collected for the hospital clowns, who cheer up children during their stays at the clinic. For more information visit www.theodora.ch.
• On-going health-related actions, such as blood donation at the hotel and non-smoking day for guests and employees.
• Annual participation in "Earth Hour," where all lights are switched off for one hour to support World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) to fight climate change. For more information visit www.earthhour.org.
• Cooperation with the local business, Sonneberg in Kriens, which employs long-term unemployed people to gain ground in the working environment again. During their weekly work experience at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Lucerne, participants are part of the team and have the opportunity to catch an insight into the workings of a city hotel.
• Annual participation of employees in the Lucerne city run, where the hotel sponsors the starting fee for all employees.
• Annual participation of the "bike to work" action month from the association "Pro Velo," where employees master their travel to work only by bicycle for one month. As a team-building exercise, each group of four has the opportunity to win attractive prices for the whole team. For more information visit www.biketowork.ch.
• Continuous staff training in first aid, fire evacuation and usage of a heart defibrillator.

Environment:

• When windows are open, the air conditioning is automatically switched off in order to save energy.
• Main switch in each guest room, activated through guest key card, for light and air conditioning
• The guests' towels are only changed when they have not been returned to the towel rail.
• Bathrooms use water-saving showerheads.
• Only 70% of the usual light potential is used for all light sources in the back offices.
• Motion detectors for light in all back offices, parking and guest floor corridors.
• Recycling: paper, glass, aluminum, batteries, bulbs, cardboard, plastic bottles.
• Double-sided printing for all internal reports and lists that need to be printed.
• On-going staff training in Responsible Business through the Responsible Business Hotel Trainer.

How guests can help:

• Let the hotel staff know that it's not necessary to change the sheets and towels every day. At the Radisson Blu Hotel, towels will not be replaced when returned to the towel rail.
• Bring empty batteries to reception, where the staff will put them into a special recycle box.
• Use public transport when sightseeing in Lucerne.
• When leaving the room, carry out the room card to automatically switch off all lights to save some energy.
• Turn off the tap water while brushing teeth.
• Switch off all electrical devices completely. Stand-by mode still uses a lot of energy.
• Offset the carbon emission associated with your stay through the loyalty program goldpointsplus. Donate your Gold Points, which are earned with every stay, to projects that will compensate for your carbon footprint. For further information, please visit the front desk.
• On cold nights, draw curtains to keep the heat in the room, and similarly on hot days, draw curtains to keep the heat out of the room.