A Sustainable Berlin

WHAT DOES SUSTAINABILITY AT THE CIRCUS MEAN?

One thing is sure, and that is that we are only at the beginning of this journey. People are rightly sceptical of companies “green washing” their reputations with labels and statements, and we also recognise that a sustainable business is not only one that is environmentally friendly, but thinks about sustainability in all meanings of the word: we can only have a positive impact, after all, if the business succeeds!

A sustainable business is one that is fair – fair for our guests, our staff, our neighbours and our city. We encourage our guests to travel in Berlin in a way that really connects with the city. This can be seen through our Behind the Curtain programme. And we try to work, wherever possible, with local and independent partners who are on a similar journey to ourselves.

THE SUSTAINABLE BERLIN COMMITMENT

In order to become part of the Sustainable Berlin network we had to report on various aspects of what we do at The Circus Hotel, Hostel and Apartments, filling out a questionnaire and disclosing information about our operations. The Sustainable Berlin Commitment is based on 11 guiding principles (find out more in German here). 

We have translated them into English:

1. We ensure that we act with resource efficiency in mind, taking into account the circular economy. In doing so we commit to the principle of reduce, avoid and utilise. 
2. We commit to making our operations energy-efficient and CO2-saving. We follow the path of identification, reduction, prevention and compensation. The long-term goal is climate neutrality.
3. We are committed to an open society and pledge to promote diversity and equal opportunities. 
4. We are committed to creating an attractive working environment and support the professional development and personal growth of our employees.
5. We are engaged with our local community.
6. We are mindful of the needs of both residents and visitors of our city.
7. We are committed to actively offering sustainable products and services.
8. We have a commitment to quality and to regularly reviewing this commitment.
9. We are committed to working together with our procurement partners to align our sustainability goals in the long term. 
10. We are committed to acting respectfully and responsibly towards our employees, partners and guests. 
11. We are engaged in active dialogue with all our stakeholders and take their needs into account.

WHAT WE ARE DOING AT THE CIRCUS

As you can imagine, there are many things we are doing to show our commitment to these guiding principles. In the long-run, we are looking to how we can produce detailed reports on our approach to sustainability at The Circus. In the meantime, here are just some of the activities we are engaged with as part of our Sustainable Berlin Commitment:

• We are members of Refill Deutschland, giving everyone the opportunity to refill their water bottles with us for free, and we are part of ReCup, encouraging the use of reusable coffee cups to reduce waste.
• All our houses use the Eco-electricity tariff from Vattenfall, which supplies 100% of our electricity from renewable sources.
• In The Circus Hotel we decided against classic air conditioning and use instead an innovative clay-cooling technology, with excess heating turned into electricity. The hotel is also equipped with solar panels, while energy efficiency infrastructure is employed in the hostel throughout the corridors and staircases which are fitted with timed LED and energy-saving bulbs.
• We are an international team with staff members from 39 countries and offer employees internal support in three languages: German, English and Spanish.
• Women make up more than 50% of our management team.
• We offer our managers continual training in Leadership and other opportunities to increase both their own skill sets but those of their team. 
• We founded the Rosenthaler Platz Initiative, committed to making our neighbourhood more attractive for residents, visitors and local businesses. We work together with our neighbours on additional street cleaning.
• We support Zelter Pate, a local organisation helping the homeless in our community. This is part of our wider support for social projects both in Berlin and around the world.
• We encourage our guests to engage with our neighbourhood and Berlin in general, through the activities we organise as part of our Behind the Curtain programme, to the recommendations of our staff.
• Our procurement priorities are based – where possible – on products that are local, natural and sustainable. Supporting Berlin-based or regional businesses is particularly important to us.
• We have quality control policies in place, including active dialogue with our guests, staff feedback, and housekeeping and maintenance controls.

We know that the Sustainable Berlin Commitment is just the beginning, and as always there is much to be done. We will continue working on making The Circus a place that has a positive impact on all those that come into contact with us. 

For more than 25 years we have been committed to hospitality that reflects all that is positive about travel and tourism: exchange, communication and learning from each other. We have staff members from around the world and value our neighbours from around the corner. Our goal is that we can run a successful, sustainable business that brings people together and makes only a positive impact on the world around us.