First Green Drinks in Manuel Antonio

Last night, Arenas del Mar hosted its first Green Drinks meeting. Green Drinks is an international organization brings together people who work in the environmental field for informal gatherings. With meetings all over the world, Green Drinks work to bring together a mixture of people from NGOs, academia, government and business. It's a great way of catching up with people you know, making new contacts in the “green industry” and promoting the concept of “green” worldwide. Everyone invites someone else along, so there’s always a different crowd, making Green Drinks an organic, self-organizing network. These events are very simple and unstructured, but many people have found employment, made friends, developed new ideas, done deals and had moments of serendipity.




While our first Green Drinks event in Arenas del Mar was small, we see a lot of potential to bring together the environmental community in Manuel Antonio. I personally spent some time talking with a couple from North Carolina about their solid waste issues, a builder from Oklahoma who is pioneering the green building movement in Oklahoma city and a local couple that runs a horseback riding company in Manuel Antonio...




Green Drinks-Manuel Antonio will be held monthly at Arenas del Mar. Contact our Hugo, our Sustainability Director, at sostenibilidad@arenasdelmar.com for more information. Hope to see you at the next event!

Biodegradable Plastic!

I feel like all I do is write about plastic these days.




We just ordered these reusable water bottles that are 100% biodegradable and a great substitute for the traditional, single-use PET plastic bottle (see Jorge Arrieta being a responsible consumer). After 18 months, these water bottles will supposedly break down completely into carbon dioxide, water and biomass, helping us to reduce the amount of PET plastic that we both buy and produce. A small step, but one in the right direction we hope...

A solution to the plastic bag epidemic?

I just read this article and can´t really express how excited I am:

http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/05/28/breakthrough-decomposes-plastic-bags-in-three-months/#more-11201

According to this article, a teenage prodigy has found a way to break down plastic bags in just three months. By isolating the microorganisms that break down plastic, this teenager has found a way to solve one of our hugest solid waste issues in Costa Rica.

Plastic bags make up a large portion of trash that cannot be recycled. They are strewn along the beaches and roads of Costa Rica and wind up piled up in open-air botaderos (dumps) hidden away in the country side.

We at Cayuga Sustainable Hospitality have been doing our best to minimize our use of this ubiquitous plastic, attempting to use reusable cloth bags or plastic vegetable crates. We always believe that it is better to avoid producing waste in the first place, to examine our consumption policies before we consider disposal. And back in 2006, Lapa Rios Ecolodge (www.laparios.com) sponsored a workshop that taught local women how to weave beautiful handbags made from recycled plastic (http://blog.laparios.com/2007_11_01_archive.html). All of this is a step in the right direction...

But, if what this article says is true and there is a way to actually decompose existing plastic bags in landfills, it will truly be a breakthrough. I´m excited to see about how this story develops...and will make sure to keep everyone posted.

Organic cotton? Bamboo sheets?

We are so excited that materials made from sustainable sources (such as organic cotton and bamboo sheets) are becoming readily available in the marketplace. From what I have read, the amount of pesticides used in the production of traditional cotton is astounding and has had very detrimental effects on the environment. To think about the amount of cotton we buy in the form of towels, sheets and uniforms, and to then think about the number of huge hotel chains in the world, it really makes me realize how big of an impact we in the hotel industry really can have.

However, just like the organic food movement, the first products that were in the market were extremely expensive, luxury items. For the average person, or the average hotel, the purchase of these products just wasn´t feasible. I remember looking at packets of organic cotton sheets that were going to cost us around $200 a set. Believe me, I am 100% in favor of supporting green products, but $200 a set is one thing for home use (if you pay $200 for a set of organic cotton sheets, you KNOW you will take care of them) but a whole other ballgame for hotel use, where the use, and carelessness of the users (vacationers tend not to think about their impact on our linen department...nor should they!) increases substantially.

Fortunately, it looks like things are changing. I just read an article, for example, on a blog called GLiving about how the clothing retailer H&M has begun to incorporate more and more clothing made out of organic materials into its designs:

http://gliving.tv/fashion/organic-fashion-by-hm-popping-up-like-those-damn-pinkberries/


Additionally, we at Cayuga Sustainable Hospitality have just found a really good source of bamboo/cotton blend sheets that are affordable AND available in Costa Rica. However, to complicate the issue even further, I just read this article:

http://sattlerclothing.com/blog/tag/bamboo-clothes/

in which the CEO of Patagonia Outdoor Clothing (a company that I admire dearly for their sustainability efforts) points out that while bamboo may be a very sustainably grown product, the process of turning it into clothing needs a great deal of toxic chemicals.

We´ve always known that it´s not easy to be green. Certifications often don´t indicate what they say they do and green washing (especially in the hospitality industry) is extremely prevalent. And even when we think we are being green (such as in the case of buying bamboo sheets), we may not actually be making the best decision. Maybe we should just opt for organic cotton?

Next time you visit one of our hotels, make sure to ask us what our sheets and towels are made out of; it is your responsibility as a consumer to ask these important questions and our responsibility as a sustainable hotel company to find the answer.

Visit to Punta Islita!

Today, Oscar (the sustainability coordinator at the Harmony Hotel in Nosara) and I went to go visit the Hotel Punta Islita (located at the very tip of the Nicoya Peninsula). The Hotel Punta Islita (www.hotelpuntaislita) has done an amazing job in working with local communities surrounding the property; we were especially impressed with how they promoted art in these communities.



This visit has definitely inspired us. We at Cayuga Sustainable Hospitality focus on the following areas in our work with the surrounding community:

Nature
Building Green and Sustainable Communities
Health
Education
Culture

And while we have done a great deal of work in supporting local dance and music, this visit to Punta Islita has definitely reminded us of the importance of supporting the visual arts as well. If anyone knows of any organizations or NGOs that are working in promoting art in rural communities, please send me an email at: millay@cayugaonline.com.

Check this out!

We really like this video:

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

The Importance of Certification for Sustainable Tourism

In the past ten years, the concept of “ecotourism”, going “green” and building “sustainably” in the tourism industry has exploded; in countries such as Costa Rica, where a number of rich natural sites are still in place, these terms are common place, appearing in practically every hotel, restaurant, tour operator’s office and street corner. While there are a number of definitions for these terms, they all basically boil down to one: finding ways in which to satisfy the requirements of today’s society without making it impossible for future generations to satisfy their own.

Finding truly “sustainable” tourism operations, however, has proven to be extremely difficult for consumers with the advent of “green washing”: the practice of using terms such as “ecotourism” or “green” simply as a marketing ploy to attract a more socially and environmentally conscious customers—and not necessarily as an operational plan or commitment. How, then, are customers supposed to know the difference between a hotel that is truly sustainable, making substantial contributions to the environment and surrounding community, and one that simply says that it is “green” for the sake of attracting customers?

Luckily, enviornmentally and socially conscious customers who visit Costa Rica have a great tool for assuring that their money is spent in a way that will truly make a positive contribution: the Certificate for Sustainable Tourism (CST) administered by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT). This complete, and rigorous, certification system, which is the only certification endorsed by the Costa Rican government, awards hotels “leaves” on a scale of one to five based on their sustainability achievements (much like the Mobile star rating which evaluates hotel services). The CST bases its judgements on four factors:

1. Biological-physical: How does a property impact and/or protect its surrounding environment?

2. Services and Infrastructure: How do the property’s operations (including product use and disposal, water and energy management, etc.) affect the environment?

3. Social-Economic environment: What impact does the property have on nearby communities to promote/provide education to its staff and community and to work with community service providers?

4. External client: How does the property promote and teach responsible tourism with guests who visit?

Currently, the CST is not mandatory for all properties in Costa Rica. For this reason, it is imperative that the consumer take an active role in looking for properties that are indeed participating in the certification process. By supporting organizations that are CST certified, you not only know where your money is being spent, but are showing your support for fair, honest and, above all, truly sustainable business practices. When you travel in Costa Rica, inquire about CST certification, ask questions and demand answers. Your travel decisions, and your “colones”, can truly make a difference.

Check out certified sustainable hotels in Costa Rica at www.cayugaonline.com.