Your go-to glossary for sustainable hospitality 🏨
Feeling lost in the maze of « sustainable hospitality » or « green tourism » buzzwords? 🤯 Ever puzzled over terms like carbon neutrality or circular economy and wondered what they truly mean for your stay? This glossary simplify eco-jargon into bite-sized concepts—from hotel water stewardship to responsible sourcing. Ready to decode the planet-friendly stay playbook? Let’s dive in. 🌱
3 Pillars of Sustainability (ESG)
ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance — the three core pillars of sustainable hospitality.
It covers reducing environmental impact (energy, water, waste), supporting people and communities (fair wages, local engagement), and ensuring transparent, ethical business practices.
5Rs
The 5Rs provide a simple framework to minimize waste in hospitality:
Refuse unnecessary items, Reduce consumption, Reuse materials, Repair instead of replacing, and Recycle to give products a second life.
Accessible
Designed or provided so that people of varying abilities (including disabilities) can use, participate, or understand.
Active Travel
Traveling by physically active means such as walking or cycling instead of motorised transport.
Air Pollution
The presence of harmful substances in the air (chemicals, particulates) which degrade air quality and can affect health and ecosystems.
Alternative Energy
Energy produced from sources like solar, wind, or geothermal that have lower environmental impacts and are naturally replenished, unlike fossil fuels.
Animal Welfare
How well animals are kept in terms of their physical and psychological state, ensuring they have freedom from pain, proper living conditions, and the ability to display natural behaviour.
Biodiversity
The variety of life in all its forms—within species, between species and of ecosystems. Vital for ecosystem health and resilience.
Carbon Footprint
The total greenhouse gas emissions (direct + indirect) caused by an entity, activity, or product, usually measured in CO₂-equivalents.
Carbon Neutral / Carbon Neutrality
Achieving net zero carbon emissions by reducing emissions as much as possible and balancing the rest via offsets or carbon capture.
Certification
A formal process, often by a third party, that confirms an entity (hotel, tour operator, destination, etc.) conforms to a certain sustainability standard.
Circular economy
An approach where resources are reused, repaired, or recycled instead of discarded, aiming to reduce waste and make better use of materials.
Climate Change Adaptation
Adjusting practices, infrastructure or operations to reduce risks or damage caused by climate changes already in motion (e.g. rising temperatures, extreme weather).
Climate Change Mitigation
Actions or processes that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or enhance sinks (e.g. forests) to slow down global warming.
Conservation
Managed protection and care of natural resources (habitats, species, landscapes) to avoid exploitation, destruction, or neglect.
Continuous Improvement
A process by which an organization constantly seeks to improve its sustainability performance through incremental changes and better practices.
Cultural Heritage / Intangible Cultural Heritage
The legacy of physical sites, objects, as well as non-physical traditions, crafts, rituals, music, languages that are inherited from the past and maintained into the future.
Decent Work
Employment that provides fair income, safe conditions, social protection, respect for rights, and opportunity for development.
Destination Management Organization (DMO)
An entity responsible for coordinating tourism policy, marketing, infrastructure and services in a destination, often to ensure sustainable and strategic growth.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
A tool used in planning projects to evaluate potential environmental (and social) effects before work begins, to reduce harm and guide decision-making.
Fair Trade
Trading arrangement that emphasizes dialogue, transparency, respect, and equitable outcomes for producers, especially in developing regions. It ensures minimum standards socially and environmentally.
Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions
Gases emitted into the atmosphere that trap heat and contribute to global warming (includes CO₂, methane, nitrous oxide, etc.).
Greenwashing
Misleading claims about environmental practices to appear more sustainable than reality.
Greywater System
A system that treats and reuses lightly used water from sinks or showers.
High Biodiversity Value
Areas with concentrations of rare, endemic, endangered or threatened species warranting special attention for conservation.
Indigenous Peoples / Indigenous Communities
Groups with distinct cultural, historical, or social attributes living in certain regions; often with special rights, traditions, and knowledge related to their land.
ISO 14001
An international standard for Environmental Management Systems (EMS) that helps organizations reduce their environmental impact, stay compliant with regulations, and improve their performance over time.
Labour Rights
The legal and human rights of workers: fair wages, safe conditions, non-discrimination, freedom of association, etc.
Living Wage
Compensation that meets the basic needs of a worker and their family (food, water, health, shelter, education), plus some margin for emergencies or savings.
Local Community
People who live in or near a tourism business or destination, who are socially, economically, or environmentally affected by the tourism operations.
Net Zero Emissions
Balancing the amount of greenhouse gases emitted with the amount removed from the atmosphere.
Noise Pollution
Making up for residual greenhouse gas emissions by investing in projects that reduce or remove emissions elsewhere (e.g. reforestation, renewable energy).
Organic Food
Food grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, often with lower environmental impact.
Protected Area
A legally or effectively managed geographical space set aside primarily for long‐term conservation of nature and cultural resources.
Purchasing Policy
Rules or guidelines defining how goods and services are acquired, including criteria for environmental-friendliness, local sourcing, fairness, etc.
Renewable Energy
Energy obtained from renewable sources (solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass) that replenish naturally over short periods.
Restoration
Ecological process of returning degraded areas to a healthier or natural state—rehabilitating land, replanting flora, restoring habitat function.
Social Responsibility
Commitment by businesses to positively contribute to society.
Stakeholder
Any individual or group with an interest in or affected by decisions and operations of a tourism or hospitality business (local residents, employees, government, etc.).
Supply Chain
All of the steps and actors involved in producing, delivering, and disposing of goods and services used by a hospitality business (from raw materials, through manufacturing, transport, to waste).
Sustainability / Sustainable Tourism
Use of natural, social, cultural, and economic resources in ways that protect them, generate fair benefits, and ensure long-term viability without compromising future generations.
Sustainability Management System
A structured set of processes, responsibilities, policies and practices that enable an organization to set sustainability goals, manage performance, and continuously improve.
Triple Bottom Line
A framework measuring success based on people, planet, and profit.
Water Stewardship
Managing water resources in a way that ensures fair access, environmental health, and economic benefit, often involving stakeholders and planning at both facility and watershed levels.
Wastewater
Water used or contaminated by human activity (domestic, industrial, agricultural) which must be treated before discharge or reuse.