Hotel Carlton and Chamade put sustainability centre stage

You can think sustainability is important or you can integrate it into every fibre of your hotel and daily activities. Such is the case at Steven and Jeffrey Van Vooren's two Ghent hotels Carlton and Chamade.

In 2012, Steven Van Vooren and his brother Jeffrey started Hotel Carlton in Ghent. In the early years, they kept the 22-room ship running alone, without staff. Ten years later, after a takeover, they added Hotel Chamade with its 51 rooms. Today, they have about 20 staff and count on the help of some eighty flexi-jobbers and students. "Sustainability has always been important to us," says Steven. "I wanted to do things differently from my previous employers in the hospitality industry. There, social and environmental sustainability was sometimes lacking. Our interest and awareness around that topic was the basis for growing our own vision organically in Hotel Carlton and Chamade."

It started with simple things, like getting rid of the table trash containers for plastic containers. The amount of waste you generate at the breakfast table alone, Steven remedied by making his own jam and serving it in small glass jars at breakfast. "Today, of course, we take this much further and buy sustainable products from our suppliers, such as ecological washing powders from Salubris, cleaning products from Ecolab, single-use products from Biopack, toilet paper from The Good Roll, coffee from Café Gusta, ... but also through the platform VANIER is a webshop for the short chain via local farmers and producers in the catering industry, among others," says the hotelier.

In terms of energy consumption, the Hotel Carlton and Chamade also take a sustainable approach. They recover water as much as possible. In Carlton, renovation of the bathrooms is planned, with shower water being reused for the toilets after intense filtration. "We do heating with air-to-air heat pumps and we do maximum heat recovery, including through the heat pumps in our boilers and dishwashers. We also rely on green electricity. We do not produce it ourselves, because our roofs are too narrow and are already full of technology. Alternatively, we buy power directly from the power exchange and this with an energy broker."

According to Steven, there is still often a lack of sincerity around sustainability today. "You have to invest anyway, so why not do it right the first time? It's not just about earning back. You give comfort to your guests by using new techniques. These are often quieter and consume less energy," he says. "Do check with your partners whether they are effectively sustainable, because if gas is involved, it is usually not ecological. Although I realise that as long as gas remains cheap, many companies will not be motivated to switch."

Environmental sustainability is all about what you do every day, but it goes hand in hand with social sustainability. "Breakfast ends at ten o'clock and then we eat the leftovers together with the employees. What is left over then, we sell via Toogoodtogo's app and give away to the non-profit organisation Enchanté. Our hot meals are completely à la carte. We have organic waste collected by Renewi, who convert 95 per cent of it into green energy. Farmers use the remaining five per cent to fertilise their fields." 

In addition, the Hotel Carlton and Chamade also focus on employees. From bicycle leasing through Joule to an open corporate culture where everyone is equal. "Working together should be a win-win for everyone, not just for the employer. We have no problem finding and keeping employees. For example, we drafted our job application texts in collaboration with experts from HoGent. Every decision you make is an opportunity to choose sustainability. Chairs made of more sustainable wood, eggs with code zero or one, ... That reflex is not always complicated or does not immediately involve high costs. That mindset has to change. Entrepreneurship is good, but it should not come at the expense of our environment. It starts with tackling one element and that is often how the ball starts rolling further. There is still a lot of low-hanging fruit in a lot of day-to-day activities. In the hotel industry, but certainly in other sectors as well."