Ovolo Launches Sustainability Initiative – Do Good, Feel Good

Ovolo will plant one tree for every direct booking, align sustainability development goals (SDG), commit to a 50% reduction in waste by 2030 and push vegetarian-led cuisine to reduce carbon footprint.

Ovolo Hotels, the award-winning independent lifestyle hotel brand, has been lauded worldwide for its vegetarian pledge, Plant’d, a commitment to conscious cuisine that is great for the planet.

Now the hotel collection is launching an industry leading sustainability initiative, which promises to Do Good, Feel Good, with concrete actions that will further cement Ovolo’s reputation as a hotel group with passion and purpose.

Central to this, Ovolo announces a new ‘Green Perk’, where a tree will be planted for every direct booking in association with Eden Reforestation Projects.

Ovolo Group Chief Executive Office, Dave Baswal, has always been a Champion of Change, but the effects of the pandemic deepened his desire to be a force for good.

“At Ovolo, sustainability has for a long time been part of our DNA, and we want to encourage our guests, teams, suppliers, and investors to Do Good, Feel Good,” he said.

“Our commitments go beyond environmental indicators and include issues such as celebrating diversity and inclusion, supporting children and schools, sourcing locally and building hotels that give back to their communities in a meaningful way.

“We want to make better choices for ourselves and the planet and play our part in ensuring a better future for all.”

Key highlights of Ovolo’s commitment include two key pillars (planet and people) and a range of actions under each:

PLANET

• The new ‘Green Perk’ where a tree will be planted for every direct booking at any Ovolo or By Ovolo Hotels.
• Working with EarthCheck to ensure all actions are science-backed, strategic and sustainable.
• The Plant’d Pledge which promotes vegetarian and plant-based cuisine across Ovolo Hotels restaurants and bars.
• A commitment to reduce food waste by 50% to 2030.
• Designing new hotels responsibly to include sustainable materials and fittings and achieve Green Certification for all Ovolo-owned new-build hotels.
• Eliminating single-use plastics by 2023.
• Measuring and managing carbon emissions, water, waste, and energy consumption.
• Sourcing locally and organically wherever possible.

PEOPLE

• Protecting the mental and physical well-being of employees and increasing development and learning opportunities for all.
• Providing education, nutrition, and healthcare for disadvantaged children in Indonesia and Hong Kong; Ovolo has partnered with Bali Children’s Foundation who help thousands of children complete school, find employment, and improve their lives and the life of their community. Through our teams’ efforts, we’ve sponsored a school in Bali with classroom upgrades, class delivery for a year and a stationary kit for each student in the elementary school of SDN 3 Sidetapa in North Bali. www.balichildrenfoundation.org
• Ensuring 50/50 women and men in management positions by 2025.
• Doubling fundraising efforts by 2025.
• Promoting local art, culture, and history to supporting local communities.

Ovolo was the first international hotel group to introduce vegetarian and plant-based cuisine across many of its hotels, and new research confirms that a diet low in meat consumption is one of the best things you can do for the planet.

Livestock alone accounts for more than 14% of greenhouse gas emissions and a vegan diet could cut those emissions by 70%.

A recent study found that widespread adoption of a vegan diet could help avoid more than 8 million deaths by 2050, while dramatically reducing the possibility of devastating extreme weather events, which are being seen around the world in greater frequency.

Planting trees is also one of the greatest things for the environment, so from 1st November Ovolo is partnering with Eden Reforestation Projects, an NGO that works with local communities to restore their environment and economy by planting sustainable trees that provide food, income, and shelter, while mitigating the impacts of climate change and carbon emissions.

One of the most vulnerable communities when it comes to climate change and the impacts of Covid is the Nepalese, so Ovolo has chosen to plant trees in Nepal to reduce the impact of soil erosion, floods, and landslides, which have a detrimental effect on farmlands and homes.

As one of the least developed countries in the world, around 30% of Nepalese live in multi-dimensional poverty.

Ovolo’s Founder and Executive Chairman, Girish Jhunjhnuwala’s wanted this initiative to align with other SDGs and have the most impact given the half the people in the Nepalese reforestation workforce are women.

“Ovolo is committed to supporting the empowerment of women not just in our workforce but in the world at large, so this was an important consideration for us,” Girish said.

Whenever guests book directly with Ovolo, they will receive a message after their stay to show them where their tree has been planted and information on the impact on the environment planting this tree has, so that they can continue to feel a connection to the land, long after they have gone home.

In the spirit of transparency and a continual effort to improve its sustainability credentials, Ovolo has committed to producing an annual report, verified by a third-party auditor, so that guests, staff and investors know exactly what the group is doing to not just leave behind a lighter footprint, but actually contribute positively to the world. “Transparency and alignment with initiatives and sustainability development goals is key for us, we don’t just want to talk the talk, but we want to be held accountable to walk the walk too,” Dave Baswal concluded.

More information, visit ovologroup.com/do-good-feel-good