The operations of the Institute for Tourism Studies have been certified since 2016 under the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System. IFT also has an Environmental Management System Committee to guide the Institute in achieving the environmental goals set annually by its management. These goals draw on the active promotion of the so-called ‘5 Rs of sustainability’: reduction of resources consumed; reuse of resources whenever possible; repair of damaged resources and regular maintenance to extend their lives; recycling of resources and use of recycled materials; and the rethinking of operational procedures to make them more environmentally friendly. For the current year, IFT aims to reduce per capita consumption of water and electricity at its campuses by 2 percent year-on-year respectively. The Institute also seeks to achieve a 2-percent reduction in general waste and food waste, and in consumption of printing resources.
Educational Hotel of IFT, Pousada de Mong-Há is awarded Macau Green Hotel Gold Award. The Institute incorporates the concept of environmental protection into education. For example, students organise environmental workshops for guests for making unique handmade souvenirs or daily necessities with the concept of "recycle" and "reuse" to promote the waste reduction and to cherish our resources. The Institute additionally installed a large number of water dispensers around its campuses, encouraging scholars, students and non-academic staff to bring their own water bottles and reuse them, thus reducing the amount of plastic rubbish produced.
Pousada de Mong-Há invites guests to join efforts to promote environmental protection. Since 2013, the Pousada has made available a specially-designed postcard to encourage guests to make a ‘Green Commitment’: guests are invited to write that commitment on the postcard. The Pousada then – after a period of 3 years has elapsed – mails the postcard to that particular guest, both as a reminder of the person’s commitment to environmental protection and as a souvenir. The first batch of ‘Green Commitment’ postcards was mailed to guests in March 2016. In addition, Pousada de Mong-Há also provides – free of charge – reusable, environmentally-friendly bags to guests that request them. The aim is to reduce use of plastic bags.
As part of its efforts to promote environmental protection, IFT is an advocate of paperless operations and of paperless travel. It suggests travellers use mobile apps to get tourism information about a destination, in order to reduce use of printed materials. In addition, Pousada de Mong-Há advocates the reduction of carbon emissions, and broadcasts promotional messages in its lobby about this topic. It also has installed environment-friendly electric fans in guestrooms, encouraging visitors to use those instead of air conditioners. To reduce the amount of food waste produced, the Pousada introduced a semi-buffet style for breakfast. Thanks to this change in operations, the Pousada reduced the amount of food waste produced compared to that generated by a full buffet. IFT has also introduced measures to reduce food waste in the Institute’s canteen, with positive results.
Pousada de Mong-Há has, since 2013, been a participant in the “Earth Hour EVERY MONTH” initiative, in partnership with other Macau hotels; it also participates in IFT’s own “Lights Out for 1 Hour” monthly initiative. In addition, the hotel participates in the annual “Earth Hour” initiative, organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) each March, with the aim of engaging people on the issue of climate change, by encouraging individuals and businesses to turn off non-essential electric lights for an hour.
The facilities at Pousada de Mong-Há will soon undergo renovation. IFT is also currently assessing the development of a second educational hotel. The institute is planning to offer additional eco-friendly features to the properties, such as ‘green wall’ panels and carbon-emission calculators and to further promote an environmentally-friendly environment for education and accommodation.
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Institute for Tourism Studies