Best practice examples of climate neutrality

The Swiss hotel chain Sunstar is the first fully climate neutral hotel chain in the world. For years now Sunstar has pursued an innovative sustainability strategy and was able to reduce CO2- emissions drastically through targeted energy savings investments. Besides insulating windows, the consistent use of energy-saving light bulbs, heat reclamation measures, installing centralised energy management systems and switching to fuel-efficient vehicles for the company fleet, hotel guests are treated to regional and seasonal meals or are given free rail tickets for an environmentally friendly trip from their homes to the hotel. Sunstar offsets the unavoidable remaining emissions of the hotels, from electricity or heating oil consumption to food, with myclimate carbon offset projects. Sunstar even offers offsetting to guests who arrive by car.

Aside from internal climate protection measures implemented numerous years ago, the Swiss Youth Hostels offer guests the option of a climate neutral overnight stay. A slight premium for the climate is used in part to fund additional internal measures such as panels for solar water heating or replacing fossil fuel-based heating systems. The rest goes toward myclimate carbon offset projects.

Smoothies – juice-like drinks consisting of 100% fruit pulp by the company Traktor AG , are available in many different flavours. The fruit used to make them is sourced from around the world. Bananas from Ecuador, pineapples from Malaysia and strawberries from Poland. Transporting fruit from these faraway places causes CO2 emissions that contribute to global warming. Traktor AG offsets these, as well as all other emissions caused by the business, through myclimate carbon offset projects. This juice company cares about the environment in other ways too. All of the fruit used to make their smoothies is sourced from certified organic food growers.

In collaboration with its partner Lemon Consult (energy efficiency in infrastructure) myclimate offers a complete solutions package marked with the climate neutral label. It offers printing companies and related businesses a path toward reduction via organisational and process optimisation. This leads to a reduction in the use of resources, chemicals and energy, thereby reducing emissions and costs. The company-specific remaining emissions of printing products are then offset in myclimate carbon offset projects, whereby individual print jobs can then be labelled “carbon neutral”. Printing companies that choose this solution will be supported on their reduction path via a data management system, as well as in their communications and client interaction.