The necessity
Over 1% of all CO2 emission on our planet is caused by the hotel industry and the travel, services and deliveries that are linked to it (source). More specifically, 2022 research has shown that an overnight stay in a hotel can produce as much as 152,2kg of CO2, depending on the country you visit (source).
Fortunately, there is a growing number of hotels that offers their guests an easy and transparent way to compensate (a part of) their CO2 impact. This is a great development, since in a post-COVID-19 world there is an ever-increasing demand for more sustainable ways of travelling.
Our goal
Hotels for Trees aims to make the hotel industry more sustainable by converting room cleaning cost savings into newly planted trees.
Our goal is to expand our operation across the globe in the years to come, whereby we aim to plant at least 1 million trees per year as of 2025, together with our partners.
Our story
The idea for Hotels for Trees stems from founder Floris Licht, who has been working in the (international) hotel industry since 2003 and has so far worked for Hilton and Accor across 5 different countries.
Amazed about the fact that when at home, we are used to cleaning our house every few weeks, whereas when we stay at hotels for multiple nights we find it very normal that someone cleans our bedside cabinet and wash basin every single day.
Of course each guests pays for this service and for many it is part of the luxury and experience of travelling. The main question however is, do all guests really need their room cleaned every single day? Or whether, if offered in an easy and attractive way, they would be willing to skip a day of room cleaning in exchange for something green and something good?
With this question in mind a new win-win-win initiative was developed. An initiative, which first of all enables hotel guests to compensate a part of the CO2 impact of their journey by contributing to the (re-)forestation projects of Hotels for Trees. Secondly, the initiative helps hotels strengthen their sustainable efforts while saving some cleaning cost as well. Finally, but definitely also most importantly, it creates a win for our planet, which through each tree that is planted becomes just a tiny bit greener.
Our core values
Hotels for Trees is based on a concept that is “easy” for both hotel guests as well as hotels. Hotel guests only need to hang the unique door hanger on the outside of their door during their multiple day stay in order to participate. Joining this movement is easy for hotels, because there is no registration fee and the hotels only donate money when savings are achieved. Furthermore, all hotel brands from all different quality levels can participate.
