Oops, We Emitted Again: How Hospitality Can Learn From Its Sustainability Slip-Ups

Off the Record: Green Talk, Gritty Truths Series. Part #3

“We’re all terrified of admitting our sustainability struggles.”

Remember the last time you were at a networking event, swapping sustainable tourism wins with your peers? One mentioned their solar panels are generating more energy than expected. Another bragged about their zero-waste program. A third flexed about 90% guest engagement.

Then it was your turn.

Did you say your composting plan backfired when your waste company turned out to be, well, lying? Or that your shiny energy-efficient system broke down. Again. Or that your carbon footprint grew despite best efforts?

Yeah, I thought so. Like most of us, you smiled politely and tossed out a dusty success from last quarter. While keeping your hotel sustainability fails locked away behind closed doors.

Welcome to the hospitality industry’s dirty little secret: the struggle behind the curtain.

The Sustainability Theater Problem

The hospitality industry has accidentally created a culture of “sustainability theater”. Where everyone performs perfection instead of pursuing progress.

“The stigma around these hotel sustainability failures often discourages transparency, stifles innovation, creativity and action in sustainability, and slows progress.” –Irresponsibility Report 2023.

We’ve accidentally built a culture of performance, not progress. Everyone’s serving up a sustainability soufflé… while ordering unsustainable takeout behind closed doors.

When failure feels shameful, nobody shares what didn’t work. Which means everyone keeps reinventing the same broken wheel. Guests get suspicious. Teams get discouraged. And progress? Stalls like an overcrowded elevator.

The irony? Guests and industry peers are hungry for authenticity. They’re tired of polished perfection and corporate BS talk. They want to hear real stories about real challenges from real people trying to make a real difference.

The Actual Cost of Fake Perfection

Authenticity wins hearts. Perfection? Just raises eyebrows.

According to industry research, this culture of secrecy around hotel sustainability challenges is actually slowing progress across the entire hospitality sector.

People trust honest businesses. You do it too. You’d rather eat at the place that replies to a bad review with grace than the one with 800 suspiciously flawless ones. So why pretend your eco-journey is spotless?

When you don’t talk about your struggles, you don’t get help. You don’t find smarter solutions. You don’t teach others. You end up in a silo—with a compost bin full of good intentions and no results.

A Better Way: The Transparency Trifecta

Time to trade in the green mask for some honest, actionable storytelling. It will strengthen your reputation, build guest trust, and accelerate your progress.

Here’s how:

1. Launch a “Sustainability Learning Log”

Share the wins and the what-the-heck-happened moments. Use it to document your progress, celebrate small wins, and analyze flops. Transparency isn’t airing dirty laundry—it’s opening the door to continuous learning.

Your learning log should include three elements for each initiative: what you tried, what happened (both positive and negative), and what you learned.

Example entry: “Our composting plan flopped—turns out our waste partner wasn’t actually composting. Now we’re working directly with a local farm instead.”

Tip Leaders Pay for: Share these updates monthly with your team, celebrating both the lessons learned from challenges and the victories achieved. This creates a culture where problems are seen as learning opportunities rather than failures to hide.

2. Host “Green Confessionals”

Create safe spaces with peers where people actually talk about what’s not working. Form a monthly meetup or WhatsApp group for hoteliers. Think of it as a support group for folks to come clean. Allow them to express themselves with things like:

“Hi, I’m Sarah, and my energy efficiency program didn’t deliver the promised savings.” or

“We tried low-flow toilets. Guests rebelled.”

Curiosity and collaboration are your best friends, use them. Ask questions like “What do you think went wrong?” and “What would you try differently next time?“.

The goal? Progress, not posturing. Problem-solving, not problem-hiding. It’s like therapy, but with less crying and more carbon offsets.

3. Practice “Transparent Marketing” That Builds Trust

Be a rebel in an industry full of polished perfection.

Don’t just post polished progress pics. Share the “oops” moments too. Start a blog series, post behind-the-scenes photos, or release an annual “Reality Report” alongside your wins.

Example: “Our new HVAC system didn’t hit our efficiency target—yet. We’re upgrading again and using this learning to inform our next rollout.”

Guests love this stuff. They’d rather support a hotel that’s honestly working toward sustainability than one that claims to have already achieved it perfectly.

You’re not just building a brand; you’re building trust.