Selina strives to foster sustainability and a caring culture in order to positively impact the environment, local communities, our connectors, guests and other stakeholders
OUR ESG STATEMENT
What do we do at Selina to reduce our negative impact on the environment?
Inspiring authentic and meaningful connections
Encourage guests and staff to turn off the lights while not in use
Encourage guests to reuse towels and linens by opting out of changing them daily
Washing dishes in full loads
Periodic maintenance to the infrastructure
Offer reusable mugs instead of disposable cups
Offer drinking water for guests
LOCAL INITIATIVES
Cleaning Territories
In the nature and cities where we operate, we implement clean up activities as part of our impact programming.
Raising Awareness
Selina hosts workshops, talks, and other initiatives to raise awareness about environmental protection, while promoting the importance of caring for our ecosystem.
Supporting Local Environmental Projects
Selina supports ongoing environmental initiatives spearheaded by the local community.
Reforestation
Selina contributes to the conservation of the environment by organizing activities such as tree planting.
What can we do for the environment?
Tips to reduce your negative impact on the environment
TURN OFF THE LIGHTS
WHY?
Electricity generation usually requires non-renewable sources that are limited, unless renewable energy sources are in use. As a result of electricity usage, greenhouse gasses and other air pollution are emitted and are contributing to global warming.
USE WATER WISELY AND RESPONSIBLY
WHY?
Every human being on earth needs fresh clean water to survive. We use fresh water for many of our everyday activities, such as drinking, bathing, cooking, as well as agriculture, manufacturing and others. Water is a limited resource that we have to preserve because the amount of water that exists on earth cannot increase.
MINIMIZE SINGLE-USE PLASTIC
WHY?
Single-use plastics (plastic bags, utensils, straws and others) make our lives easier, but seriously harm the planet. During its whole life cycle, plastics are responsible for much of the pollution humans generate. Plastics also affect animals' health and lives due its invasion of their natural environment.
REDUCE, REUSE AND RECYCLE WASTE
WHY?
Reduce waste - Buy only what you need, choose products with less packaging, avoid single-use bags and search for items that you can reuse.
Reuse waste - Be creative! Find ways to reuse materials instead of disposing of them.
Recycle - separate your waste and throw it into the recycling bin.
REUSE YOUR TOWEL AND LINEN
WHY?
Laundry consumes a significant amount of water and electricity. Changing your towels and linen less frequently, while maintaining hygiene, will have a great impact on your water and electricity consumption as well as on the environment.
What are greenhouse gasses and why should we reduce their emissions?
Greenhouse gasses are gasses emitted from different natural and non-natural activities on earth (carbon dioxide, methane, and others). These gasses absorb heat energy emitted from Earth and reradiate it back to the Earth’s surface to regulate the climate.
Since the Industrial Revolution, greenhouse gasses have been rising, and the natural climate equilibrium has been affected. Too many greenhouse gasses on earth disturb the balance of our climate and lead to harmful climate change situations and the rise of temperatures.
Global warming leads to severe weather extremes such as droughts and floods, hot summers, and freezing winters.
Although greenhouse gasses are part of the natural functioning of our earth since the Industrial Revolution there has been a constant increase in the emitted gasses by humanity, which creates devastating effects worldwide.
SELINA SOCIAL IMPACT
Selina Impact is a community initiative led by our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) department. Our collective mission is to make a positive difference across the global communities in which we operate by leveraging our people and our venues. Selina Impact is designed to make a positive difference with a focus on strengthening our personal relationships with the communities in which we operate. It is an opportunity to authentically engage our guests and staff, shedding light on local, social, environmental, and economic challenges. By adopting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we are creating special, impact-oriented programming at every Selina location.
Our focus areas include:
Strengthening Initiatives
for Quality Education
Fostering Economic Opportunity for All
Creating a Thriving Environment
COVID-19 RESPONSE
Our number one priority during this time has been to create a secure and comfortable environment, ensuring the health and safety of our team and community. In light of the global crisis, we have launched the following responses:
Selina Employee Fund
Selina staff is our family and we wish we didn’t have to take the difficult decisions to furlough or lay-off a single staff member. With travelers responsibly following global health protocols by staying at home, a number of our global locations have been impacted. The fund raised $44,000 in 6 weeks and we have distributed the funds to 234 Selina families in need.
We have opened a number of our Selina locations to house staff during this difficult time. As of April 30th, 27 locations have housed 110+ staff facing housing insecurity due to the COVID-19 crisis. This exchange has created a unique opportunity for new solidarity to develop among our teams, while also allowing for new projects to flourish and for our community to remain accommodated.
Subsidized Worker Housing
Beds for Medical Staff
In Portugal and Colombia, we have been offering free accomodation to 50+ medical staff who are self-quarantining to protect their immune-compromised loved ones. and for our community to remain accommodated.
FOUR PART IMPACT STRATEGY
As a team we are taking action to highlight our shared global priorities for each of our impact strategies. These include:
Selina Gives Back
Hospitality Program
By aiming to decrease unemployment, we encourage economic opportunity for all by providing a free job training program for vulnerable community members. The program consists of free mentoring, hands-on training, hospitality theory workshops and job placement assistance.
Impact: 570 People trained to date
- 65% employment rate post program graduation
Impact Programming
We strengthen communities by providing quality education-based, free programming in all our locations with a focus on creating a positive social, economic and environmental impact. Annually we host 3000+ impact programs across all of our locations where our guests, staff and local community members off their time and expertise.
138,300 Beneficiaries
We create authentic and meaningful connections with local and global communities through location-based annual programs that focus on community mapping, outreach exercises, public hearings, focus groups and location/program tours. Community engagement is key to ensuring our programming relevance.
200 Stakeholders engaged
We are an experiential company that cares about our employees’ wellbeing and cultural interests. We have built a company culture based on authentic community engagement, while also encouraging all staff members to give 2% of their working time to volunteer for causes and charity organisations of their choice.
77820 Hrs donated
Stakeholder Engagement
Culture of Engagement
CR Impact Program Examples:
• English classes
• Mental health workshops
• Sports activities
• Free surfing classes
• Healthy cooking workshops for children
• Beach and city clean-ups
• Climate change lectures
• Recycling workshops
• Reforestation workshops
•Animal protection workshops
• Job readiness workshops for local youth members
• Women empowerment workshops
• Entrepreneurial workshops
IMPACT IN ACTION
SELINA GIVES BACK HOSPITALITY PROGRAM
IMPACT PROGRAMMING
The Selina Gives Back (SGB) Hospitality Program is our flagship CSR program that prepares local unemployed and disadvantaged community members to enter the hospitality job market with hands-on training and job placement guidance.
Through our specialised program, we have trained 570 local community members in key hospitality skills, taught 'English for tourism' classes and job placement techniques. 65% of our program's graduates are either employed or in school within 1 year of graduating from the program.
Internships
Our Impact Department offers Internship programmes, providing an opportunity for anyone to come and make a local and global difference. If you are currently a student looking for a meaningful learning experience, or perhaps a university graduate who is ready to kickstart a new career, head over to our Internships Page for more information or get in touch with: [email protected]
Impact Annual Reports
All of our Selina locations welcome partnerships with local community leaders, non-profit organizations and educators. Together we address local socio-economic and environmental challenges through free educational programming. If you are an organization, educational institution or social enterprise looking to partner with one of our global locations, please get in touch with: [email protected]
Partnerships
OPPORTUNITIES TO CREATE IMPACT WITH SELINA