You can talk about sustainability and tourism all you want, but you can do something about it at the Lulu Guldsmeden Hotel in Berlin.
The Lulu Guldsmeden Hotel is among Berlin’s most sustainable properties — something you’re constantly reminded of when you visit. But the one thing that will stop you in your tracks is the sign at the breakfast buffet.
It lists yesterday’s food waste per visitor.
And it works, says general manager Nick Zilinski.
“Our guests read the notice and pay attention to the waste,” he says. “You can see a change in their behaviour.”
Nick Zilinski, general manager of the Lulu Guldsmeden Hotel, an eco-hotel that has taken sustainability to the next level.
Visitors to Berlin are “very interested” in sustainability.
The German capital has taken sustainability seriously for years before becoming a tourism buzzword. In 2017, it adopted a plan to develop diverse attractions and promote sustainable tourism. Since then, the city has won awards for its sustainability program and mentored other cities in their sustainability efforts.
Luisa Mentz, Visit Berlin’s sustainability manager, says the first visitors interested in sustainability came to the city for meetings or on incentive trips—and it was their travel manager who asked. Being green was one item on a checklist.
But lately, that has changed.
Some visitors are now looking for a more sustainable vacation experience and are doing their due diligence before planning a trip. They’re checking a destination’s green credentials, reviewing its sustainability plans, and planning greener activities, like cycling or urban hikes.
“There are groups out there, and they are very interested in sustainability,” she says. “One of the things we’re trying to do is reach them with our message.”
One of the beneficiaries of Berlin’s sustainability initiatives is the Lulu Guldsmeden, part of a boutique hotel chain.
Zilinski, the general manager of the Guldsmeden in Berlin, says the idea is to set an example for guests and other hotels about their sustainability. The hotel does everything you’d suspect a green property to do: It recycles food waste, sources its products locally, and has eliminated single-use plastics.
But it goes further by reminding its guests that they bear some responsibility. One standout is a sign that greets all guests checking in, a reminder of what a sustainable tourist should do. That includes eating local, using biodegradable products and recycling.
This may seem like common sense, but in travel, almost no responsibility for sustainability has been formally assigned to the traveller—until now. And it’s happening in an unlikely place. Berlin has made giant strides from a divided and somewhat dreary Cold War city to an enormous construction site in the late 1990s to one of the greenest capitals in Europe.
Inés Lauber, a tour guide specialising in Berlin’s urban garden, is in the Prinzessinengärten near the Tempelhof airport.
Urban gardens are thriving in Berlin.
Berlin is a forward-looking city, with sustainability showcases around every corner and even a museum dedicated to sustainability.
Inés Lauber, a tour guide specialising in Berlin’s urban gardens, says the city faced a difficult decision after reunification almost 30 years ago. Should it hand over the empty spaces to developers? Or should it preserve some of them as parks and green spaces?
While many of the open spaces were developed for the capital, remarkably, some have survived. One of the largest is the former Tempelhof Airport, where a new urban community called Allende Kontor is growing between the now-abandoned runways.
“People are coming together as a community, and these gardens have become a community project more than anything,” she says. “They are sustainable, but people are growing and harvesting food here.”
On a recent summer afternoon, the harvest was plentiful. Peppers, squash, and mint sprouted up in tidy rows, and green tomatoes were beginning to ripen. In the wild, bushes bending under the weight of blackberries were growing. It’s not what you would expect in Berlin, but it is a part of the city’s sustainability picture.
Gabriele Zipf, head curator of Berlin’s Futurium, a museum of the future.
What’s the future of sustainability in Berlin?
Berlin is one of only a handful of major cities with a museum of the future, the Futurium. This relatively new museum concept challenges visitors to look into the future instead of the past, and sustainability is at the centre of this institution.
“We look at different approaches as to how the future could be shaped,” says the museum’s director, Stefan Brandt.
At the Futurium, this can include art exhibits such as the one that shows the relationship between the environment and people via interconnecting threads. It could be an exhibit with robots interacting with each other. Or it could be a display that illustrates a path from an unsustainable future to a sustainable one.
One remarkable thing about the Futurium is its open spaces where museum guests can sit and discuss what they’ve seen, perhaps coming up with new ideas for solving the world’s future problems.
For visitors to Berlin, the Futurium is a necessary stop. In a city where guests are often so fixated on the past, looking to the next thing is a contrarian experience. Berlin hopes you will find sustainability there.
Written by: Christopher Elliott
BIO:
Christopher Elliott is an author, consumer advocate, and journalist. He founded Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps solve consumer problems. He publishes Elliott Confidential, a travel newsletter, and the Elliott Report, a news site about customer service. If you need help with a consumer problem, you can reach him here or email him at chris@elliott.org.
