Our 2023 Sustainability Report

It is the third anniversary of our annual sustainability report, and we are very excited to share our progress in 2023. 

Once again we have outlined our commitment to the three pillars of sustainability: environmental, social, and economic, while looking ahead to the future of our company and including the sustainability related goals we want to achieve. 

Below is a summary of our favorite highlights from the previous year, and our main goal for each pillar. If you would like to view the full report, you can scroll through the PDF below. 

Environmental Responsibility

This April was the hottest in the history of the world, and while we, as a collective, have taken strides to combat global warming, we are not doing enough. It is essential that we focus on minimizing our impact and maximizing our efforts to conserve our Earth, and we, at Rupp PR, are dedicated to nurturing our environment. 

What we are doing: 

  •  This year we implemented our no fly policy when traveling around Europe. So far we have only traveled by ground transport for any kind of business travel.  

    i.e. On our company retreat to Marseille we took the train. One of our colleagues traveled from Italy while the rest of us traveled from Germany. It was 10+ hours on the train and we ended up running into a lot of train complications but in the end it was totally worth it

  • We are using 100% renewable energy in our home offices. We switched our contract with SWM Munich to the most sustainable energy source. 

    i.e. M/Ökostrom Fix is climate neutral, with 100% of its electricity coming from renewable sources.

“As you can see, the decision to cut flights from our European business trips is long overdue. However, it is also an extremely difficult decision to live up to – with train travel costing us more than double the price of flights, and 24 hours of door-to-door travel time on trains vs. 4 hours in total via plane from Milan to Berlin, for example.” – Natascha

Our Goal:

  • We are aiming to become a B Corp by 2026!

Social Responsibility

Social responsibility has become extremely important to consumers, with the majority (45%) stating that they are more likely to buy from a company if they donate to charity. Consumers are urging companies to do their part for society, and we want to be a part of the movement. 

What we are doing: 

  • We are continuing our support and funding for Eunoia e.V., an NGO that works on educational projects for children, with a focus on sustainability and local culture – two things we are also passionate about!

    i.e. Last year we funded the building of a playground for a school in Cape Town and other school projects around the world.

Playground funded by Eunoia e.V. in Cape Town

  • We are involved in our local community and show our support by helping the less privileged students in Munich in whatever way we can. We donate money directly and through NGOs to support these children.

    i.e. We funded a field trip for students in Munich with special educational needs to experience the beauty of the Alps. 

“In 2024, we will support the building of a second school in Cape Town. This is a product of our previous collaboration with a local NGO, Uthando, in South Africa where we funded the building of a playground for Ulwazi Educare in 2022. Following the school’s success, we are continuing to collaborate with Uthando to provide more outdoor space for the students of Goal50 Edu Hub in Cape Town.” – Natascha

Our Goal:

  • We will increase our support for projects by the NGOs we fund, while continuing our dedication to the children of our local community. 

i.e. We are already starting our next project in South Africa to build another outdoor space for the students of Goal50 Edu Hub!

Economic Responsibility 

It’s no secret that sustainability comes with a price, especially if the product is locally and ethically sourced. Unfortunately, this means that companies are pricing sustainable products too high for consumers as only 11% of consumers said they are willing to pay more for this sustainability. We have a responsibility to make sustainability economically accessible to everyone.

What we are doing: 

  • We recorded a second season of the S-Word Podcast which featured MA People’s founder Magdelena Rungaldier. These episodes aligned with our Sustainable Communications Handbook and discussed case studies and practical tips on how hotels can be more sustainable and communicate this sustainability without greenwashing.

“As communicators we need to walk the talk. With the communications handbook we are providing people in the hospitality industry with an easy to use toolkit for sustainable communications.” – Natascha 

Our Goal:

  • Push the communications handbook with MA People to spread awareness and help educate more people about sustainable communications and the negative effects of greenwashing.

Our Progress 

Once again, our team member Chiara calculated all of our emissions for us. Read our quick summary below and check the statistics above for the full report!

“We achieved our goal of decreasing travel emissions by one ton! And we look forward to improving this even more with our new no fly policy for 2024.” – Chiara

Summary:

  • We have improved our carbon emissions on travel!

  • We used Atmosfair for our carbon offset projects and used My Climate and the Carbon Donut to calculate our carbon footprint.

  • As clearly outlined in this summary, and in our report, we have concrete goals in place to improve our carbon emissions even more by the end of 2024.

Conclusion

We are extremely proud of the progress we made in 2023, but as always, there is definitely room for improvement which we are both aware of and attempting to fix by already working towards our goals.

We love sustainability and we are excited about how we have shaped our business. More than that, we also are excited about shaping our clients’ sustainability journey as well. We truly enjoy supporting our clients in every way we can so they, too, can become sustainable. In fact, this is not the only sustainability report Chiara has worked on, as she has also designed our client CAS Trips’ sustainability report. 

We hope that this report inspires you to implement sustainability in your company, but also in your day to day life. We understand that the road to becoming sustainable is rocky, but by implementing certain steps, you can reach your goals too. Ultimately, sustainability should be the first priority for every company, as it is the only way to successfully continue a thriving business.

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