Sustainable Development Goals

This goal clearly addresses, above all, poverty in places such as Africa, South-East Asia and parts of South America. However, the wording “in ALL its forms everywhere” makes it clear that this kind of poverty does not stand alone. Even in wealthy countries like Austria, the two shores of “poor” and “rich” are drifting ever further apart, and ever faster.

The Covid-19 crisis and high inflation in particular are making it ever harder to make ends meet – even for people working full-time, especially in hospitality. We do not want to stand by and watch this trend, let alone be among those driving it. That is why, at the Hotel zur Post, we pay wages well above collectively agreed rates, so that our employees can lead a healthy life. Our employees earn an average of €2,546.55.

Our fight against poverty also consists of a few small but ongoing forms of help. For many years, we have been supporting a child in an SOS Children’s Village in Africa through a sponsorship. An annual donation goes to the Salzburg organisation “Austrian Doctors”, which carries out healthcare work in Asia. We also give small sums of money to help in current crises, such as the earthquakes in Turkey and Morocco in 2023.

We serve 100% organic food and source it from regional producers wherever possible. Supporting small businesses is central to our philosophy, as a way of finding a nature-based and sustainable approach. Quality is also a big factor when it comes to food. Since we stand for organic, it is not hard to believe that this also stems from a certain conviction that we should consume only high-quality food. After all, you are what you eat.

Food that does not come, quite literally, from our organic neighbourhood is likewise produced and traded exclusively organically and fairly. This made us an official Fair Trade hospitality partner. Only our organic coffee, which is roasted in the Tennengau near Salzburg, is “Naturland Fair” certified. Naturland is an organisation that combines organic farming, social responsibility and fair trade, both internationally and regionally. In our garden, “old varieties” from the “Arche Noah” association are planted to promote a diversity of vegetation. However, this small oasis is more symbolic than a real contribution to enabling genetic diversity and fair agriculture on a large scale. Thanks to this garden, we can offer not only our guests but also numerous animals a place to feed.

Our insect hotel thrives on our plants, and its residents are in turn eaten by birds, hedgehogs and so on. There are also 2–4 beehives in our bee garden. These little helpers pollinate the surrounding flowers and plants and reward us with wonderful organic honey, which can occasionally be found on our organic breakfast buffet. In this way, we play our part in nature-based food and farming.

Through our support of “Austrian Doctors”, we help to improve health in Asia, and through our sponsorship of a child in an SOS Children’s Village in Africa, we help to give children in Africa a secure, caring start in life. Smoking has been banned in our hotel for over 15 years. The food eaten in our hotel, by guests and staff alike, is of the highest quality and organic. We also offer a sauna, which has been proven to bring many benefits for physical and mental health. We also rent out two accessible rooms, so that people whose mobility is limited for health or age-related reasons also have a place to stay.

Everyone has their own strengths and interests, in which they learn willingly and almost automatically. We encourage these strengths as best we can and never miss an opportunity for learning. Learning itself is a lifelong process. In our breakfast room, we have various newspapers so that you don’t have to rely on the word of just one journalist. Our managing director Georg Maier is happy to answer questions about our sustainable business practices, not least to spread the message: “Going GREEN works!”

As an award-winning training company (prize from the Salzburg Chamber of Commerce), we have regularly trained apprentices since 2012. From 2015 to 2017, we trained the first wheelchair user to become a hotel and hospitality assistant. She stayed with us after completing her apprenticeship. We offer our apprentices the chance to take the Matura (the Austrian school-leaving exam) alongside their apprenticeship, to ensure a well-rounded education.

Our hotel is run by Silvia Maier and Georg Maier. The couple have been managing the Grünes Hotel zur Post in Salzburg together as equal partners for three decades. At our reception, two employees – a woman and a man – hold the deputy management positions, which underlines gender equality in our business. There are no differences in promotion opportunities or pay. For us, equality goes beyond gender: in our business it is irrelevant what skin colour you have, which religion you follow or which country you come from. As it should have been everywhere long ago!

Austria’s spring water is a natural treasure that must be treated with respect! We do this in our business with the utmost passion. There are several measures you can take to minimise water consumption: water-saving shower heads with aerators, economy flush buttons on all toilets, watering the garden with non-potable water, and changing towels only at the guest’s request or when they urgently need washing.

There is still a lot to be done in Austrian water management: because we live with such an abundance of water, it is not always valued as it should be. Mrs Maier’s father is chairman of the water cooperative in the Tennengau and a volunteer at the ÖVGW – Austrian Association for Gas and Water. This means the business has always had support when it comes to saving water.

We do everything we can to contribute to a green future in how we generate and use energy, too – and to prove that you can run a successful business while staying “green”. All our initiatives are listed in the Grünes Hotel zur Post’s Common Good Balance Sheet; the most important ones are also set out here. Three photovoltaic systems with outputs of 10.25, 17.00 and 3.6 kWp produce roughly half of the electricity we use. Since 2023, we have held eight purchase rights in the “Sinnhub” hydroelectric power station on the Almkanal, just 1.3 km away, which will supply us with 12,000 kWh of electricity a year for 30 years. This is a project of the Ökostrombörse Salzburg, which is working to modernise local electricity production.

The rest of our electricity comes from Salzburg AG and is 100% green electricity. Every year, three solar thermal systems feed 25,000 kWh of heat into our microgrid – a small district heating network of our own that connects six buildings and, powered by a pellet boiler, supplies sustainable energy. We buy our pellets from the regional company SPG-Bio-Pellets, which turns sawdust from a nearby sawmill in the Tennengau into pellets. Our buildings and heating pipes are also optimally insulated. The goal must be for all of Austria to become free of fossil fuels!

Sustainable business practices are an essential part of our philosophy; it is not only about the physical environment – the working atmosphere is also a fundamental building block of any functioning business. We are committed to treating our employees well and fairly. We employ between 10 and 15 staff, most of them full-time. Their tasks range from housekeeping and breakfast service to reception and occasionally manual jobs such as changing light bulbs or doing small repairs. Pay is above the usual collectively agreed rates to ensure a decent income.

In addition, we have virtually no overtime. As an award-winning training company (prize from the Salzburg Chamber of Commerce), we have regularly trained apprentices since 2012. From 2015 to 2017, we trained the first wheelchair user to become a hotel and hospitality assistant. She stayed with us after completing her apprenticeship. We offer our apprentices the chance to take the Matura (the Austrian school-leaving exam) alongside their apprenticeship, to ensure a well-rounded education.

Growing productivity requires continuous investment in infrastructure and innovation. Infrastructure is the backbone of a functioning society, from sewage systems and power supply to public transport. That is why it also plays a major role in our day-to-day hotel life. After all, we have to provide every guest with a fully functioning, all-round infrastructure package.

Wastewater is handled by the city, which leaves us little room for manoeuvre. Electricity and energy supply are absolutely essential in our industry. We get our electricity and energy from three photovoltaic systems with outputs of 10.25, 17.00 and 3.6 kWp, which produce around half of the electricity we use. Since 2023, we have held eight purchase rights in the “Sinnhub” hydroelectric power station on the Almkanal, just 1.3 km away, which will supply us with 12,000 kWh of electricity a year for 30 years. This is a project of the Ökostrombörse Salzburg, which is working to modernise local electricity production.

We buy the rest of our electricity from Salzburg AG, and it is all green electricity. Every year, three solar thermal systems feed 25,000 kWh of heat into our microgrid – a small district heating network of our own that connects six buildings and, powered by a pellet boiler, supplies sustainable energy. We buy our pellets from the regional company SPG-Bio-Pellets, which turns sawdust from a nearby sawmill in the Tennengau into pellets. In this way, we have built our own infrastructure network and are self-sufficient to a certain degree.

Transport is another key issue: after all, our guests have to get to the hotel. We rely on public transport, pedal power and electric mobility. We have an electric car of our own, which we mostly charge when the sun is shining, so that we can use our PV systems and make all our journeys on green electricity.

Which leads neatly to our next topic, the GREEN DISCOUNT: a 10% voucher that rewards climate-neutral travel by public transport, bike or electric car. We also offer our guests one of eight charging stations at the hotel, so that they can continue their journey without any worries. Innovation will also play a major part in solving the climate crisis, and beyond that it will keep developing and refining our lives. You have to get behind it to support this progress. That is why we bought an electric car very early on, and with our CO₂-neutral microgrid we are pioneers in the hotel industry. We are always on the lookout for new technologies that bring us a step closer to climate neutrality, so that we can be the first to carry out a field study, metaphorically speaking.

Of course, a city hotel in Salzburg cannot solve inequality and the disparities between countries. But it is important that everyone does their bit to tackle this huge problem. At the Grünes Hotel zur Post, we do our part to combat inequality by setting an example of equality. Marginalised groups face no discrimination here. Everyone is treated equally, and that should be the standard.

Beyond that, our fight against inequality is made up of small but constant acts of help. For many years, we have been supporting a child in an SOS Children’s Village in Africa through a sponsorship. Each year, we donate to the Salzburg organisation “Austrian Doctors”, which carries out healthcare work in Asia. We also donate small sums to help in current crises, such as the earthquakes in Turkey and Morocco in 2023.

Through initiatives such as our GREEN DISCOUNT, we are doing our part to shape infrastructure for a more sustainable future, rewarding sustainable travel with a 10% discount in the form of a voucher. In other words, you automatically save when you travel by bike, on foot, by public transport or by electric car. We also provide eight electric car charging stations at our hotel to make your travel hassle-free and straightforward.

We also offer bus tickets at our hotel, as a service to our guests and to make it easier to be green. In addition, we lend out city bikes by the day, which are completely free for direct bookings. Finding the way to sustainable cities will certainly not be easy; it is a lengthy process that can only be tackled with very forward-looking, future-oriented projects. So we must start promoting sustainable transport now. The faster the transition moves forward, the better for the Earth and for future generations.

Although we do not take an official political stance as a hotel, there are regular exchanges of views about Salzburg’s planned local underground railway, which of course fits perfectly with our vision of a sustainable city. A sustainable city is not just about the environment, either: the safety and stability of its residents are also essential. We play our part by providing affordable staff accommodation and monthly or annual public transport passes. During the coronavirus pandemic, there were several cases of staff living in the hotel’s holiday apartments to safeguard their quality of life.

Sustainable consumption means consuming thoughtfully and efficiently. That is why, over the years, we have built up an extensive stock of products and furniture. Almost everything we need for repairs, for example, comes from our garages, which saves us a great many new purchases. If something still works perfectly and looks presentable, it is repaired and reused.

Which brings me straight to our next topic: our waste policy, in line with Zero Waste Austria. Follow the link to find out more about our approach to waste. Our biggest contribution to this goal, however, is the hotel’s conscious consumption. All our food is 100% organic and, as far as possible, regional and seasonal. In this way, we support sustainable agriculture and the efficient use of resources. We already do almost entirely without plastic.

Our hotel has made fighting climate change its main task. This philosophy runs through every part of our business.

There are also many other details, smaller projects and memberships that are not listed here. To find out more about what we do, we invite you to read our Common Good Balance Sheet, where you will find a more detailed account.

In this context, we are proud to present our managing director Georg Maier’s new project: “Hotels for Future”. It is an NGO founded in 2023. Georg Maier launched the project to build a network of sustainable hoteliers. In addition, a tree is planted for every booking in a particular room category. The aim is to tackle global warming directly by storing CO₂ naturally. So far, Mr Maier has planted these trees himself in the Salzburger Land, and “Hotels for Future” also works with the external company “Wald4Leben”, which operates in Lower Austria.

The first thing to mention here is the pollution of the world’s oceans, one of the biggest problems in modern environmental protection. Proper waste disposal and lower waste production are essential to ensure that our seas are spared. Through our very sparing use of plastic and our commitment to recycling, we reduce potential pollution. Our detergents and hygiene products are all free of microplastics, and we try to avoid transport by ship and plane by sourcing our products regionally.

We have also decided not to offer salmon, tuna or any other seafood. This avoids transporting these products and means we take no part in the fishing industry.

We contribute to sustainable agriculture through what we buy: all our food is 100% organic and our eggs, for example, come from an environmentally conscious organic farmer nearby. As a rule, we look for people who are working to protect forests and diversity. Organic farming plays a very important part in this.

Our garden is home to 2–4 beehives, whose bees pollinate the plants and flowers in the area and so make an important contribution to our ecosystem. We always pay attention to biodiversity in our own garden: our insect hotels provide extra habitat for many small animals and insects, and we practise “green instead of grey” – many of the patches concreted over in recent years are being planted with shrubs and trees.

In 2023, Mr Maier also founded an NGO called “Hotels for Future”, which focuses mainly on reforestation: a tree is planted for every booking in a particular room category. Georg Maier has already planted more than 200 larches himself in the Salzburger Land, and a further 100 have been planted in Lower Austria through the external company “Wald4Leben”. Besides reforestation, the project also aims to build a network of sustainable hoteliers, to encourage exchange and to lay the groundwork for further projects in the future.

At the Grünes Hotel zur Post, we do our part to combat inequality by setting an example of equality. Marginalised groups face no discrimination here. Everyone is treated equally, and that should be the standard. Among all our staff, the culture of communication is open, considerate and respectful.

Beyond that, our fight against inequality is made up of small but constant acts of help. For many years, we have been supporting a child in an SOS Children’s Village in Africa through a sponsorship. We make an annual donation to the Salzburg organisation “Austrian Doctors”, which carries out healthcare work in Asia. We also donate small sums to help in current crises, such as the earthquakes in Turkey and Morocco in 2023. As an award-winning training company (prize from the Salzburg Chamber of Commerce), we have regularly trained apprentices since 2012. From 2015 to 2017, we trained the first wheelchair user to become a hotel and hospitality assistant. She stayed with us after completing her apprenticeship. We offer our apprentices the chance to take the Matura (the Austrian school-leaving exam) alongside their apprenticeship, to ensure a well-rounded education.

In 2023, our managing director Georg Maier founded an NGO called “Hotels for Future”. Besides reforestation, the project also aims to build a network of sustainable hoteliers, to encourage exchange and to lay the groundwork for further projects in the future.

We are also part of the “Sleep Green Hotels” group. This partnership aims to make it as easy as possible for consumers to stay sustainably. It offers a platform for hotels that genuinely make a contribution, and so aims to counter greenwashing in the hotel sector.

We are a member of “Zero Waste Austria”, an organisation committed to reducing and separating waste. Further partnerships such as BioParadies SalzburgerLand, Die BiowirtInnen, Vegan Welcome, Private City Hotels and Umweltzeichen Hotels help us achieve our business and personal “green goals”. Georg Maier has also drawn up a Common Good Balance Sheet in line with the Economy for the Common Good to make our commitment clear.