艷陽加勒比，天天都是地球日Commentary: Every day is Earth Day ...
由 Kai-Chi 發表於 週五 4月 27, 2007 3:39 pm
艷陽加勒比，天天都是地球日Commentary: Every day is Earth Day in the Caribbean
編譯侯美如整理報導 台灣立報
每到4月22日，全球歡慶一個新環境運動的誕生。在這天，地球村各個角落都為了向「地球日」致敬而舉辦獨特的慶祝活動，不過，在加勒比海地區，地球日可不單只是個值得紀念的日子，多年來，它已在這裡紮根，蓬勃長成加勒比觀光業的企業道德。
在環保意識抬頭的潮流中，地球日終於在1970年問世，而加勒比各大私營飯店為維護環保盡心也已逾10載，其中，不少地方商家都參與「綠色地球」及ISO 14001等國際認可的旅遊業生態標識，在評估環保、汙染及消費需要同時有效管理業務，確實降低對地球的傷害。目前「加勒比旅店協會」共有47家「綠色地球」認可企業，領先全球，他們保護空氣、土壤和水道不受有毒化學物及廢料的污染，使用環保能源、減少溫室氣體排放量，在這裡，終年都是環保日。
他們的努力世界都看見了：涼鞋海灘酒店集團、巴哈馬的堤亞墨渡假村、阿爾蒙酒店、多明尼加的三河生態渡假村，這些都是享譽全球的綠色度假勝地。
而他們的每個小小努力，對生態環境都意義重大。最近才推出「天堂蜜月」套裝的知更鳥旅館，與「牙買加保存發展基金會」密切合作，回報旅客消費估計會產生的溫氣體，基金會將比造等量氣體栽植樹木，試圖達到碳平中和。「牙買加保存發展基金會」平時以衛星畫面控管森林砍伐，並大量栽種生長速度快、雖然經濟價值較低但富絕佳生物多樣性的樹種。
而三河生態渡假村則是在水資源和廢料問題上用心。所有廚房花園的廢棄物都轉作肥料之用，連灌溉的水源都取自廚房、浴室使用過的「灰水」，既不用使用化學肥、又滴水不浪費、同時也不需要額外的垃圾掩埋場，這樣環保的循環利用，一舉三得。
加勒比對旅遊生態如此重視，讓大氣中移除的溫室氣體甚至比他們排放的還多。巴貝多首相亞瑟在3月14日的預算演講中就提出，凡參加「綠色地球」等國際旅遊生態評估標準的私人企業，就得以減稅150％，大大鼓吹國內綠色經濟。
此外，當地民營「加勒比旅店協會」及國營「加勒比旅遊組織」也聯合舉辦一連串會議，集結當地業者及其歐洲合作組織，以實際層面商討如何應對氣候變異、如何控管溫溫室氣體、同時扶持加勒比地區順利發展。不只是旅遊業者，加勒比的每個住家也在居家、交通、生產上用心，和企業聯合展開全面綠化運動，朝更潔淨、更安全、健康的永續環境邁進。
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-1079--6-6--.html
Each year, April 22 marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. Many countries around the world celebrate this day with special activities and community events. In the Caribbean, the hotel and tourism industry is taking Earth Day way beyond a commemorative day, to a philosophy for doing business responsibly.
Looking back, Caribbean hotels have been responding to climate change for more than a decade. Several have led the regional private sector in mitigating environmental impacts through their participation in Green Globe or ISO 14001 certification programs. In fact, the Caribbean leads the world, as a region, with 47 Green Globe certified properties. These 47 properties, all members of the Caribbean Hotel Association, are transforming Earth Day into Earth Year-Round. Their operations have become progressively more efficient and competitive, while contributing to a sustainable future for all of us - protect our air, soil and waterways from toxic chemicals, harmful substances, and excess waste; reducing greenhouse gases responsible for global warning by investing in clean energy.
Their work to protect our earth has earned them not just accolades in our own backyard, but international recognition as well: Sandals and Beaches; Tiamo Resort in Bahamas; Almond Resorts; Amsterdam Manor Beach Hotel in Curacao; and 3 Rivers Ecolodge in Dominica, among many others.
Their practices are exemplary - significant, yet simple. Take the Hotel Mocking Bird in Jamaica, which recently announced its "Heavenly Honeymoon" package, whereby the hotel offsets their guests' calculated carbon footprint by contributing to the local Jamaican Conservation Development Trust - an entity that uses satellite imagery to work against the deforestation of a national park, planting fast-growing trees with little lumber value, but excellent for biodiversity.
Meanwhile, at the 3 Rivers Ecolodge, all kitchen and garden waste is turned into compost, to grow organic food on the property, irrigated in turn by treating gray water and then re-using it - a smooth chain that in swiftly does without the use of chemicals or fertilizers and reduces water consumption, as well as waste that would otherwise end up in a landfill.
This approach to doing business, along with other efforts by tourism stakeholders across the region, contribute to making the Caribbean tourism industry one that removes more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it adds.
As an exercise in awareness, take a look at the tourism industry in your country; you will find that much is being done - but much is still to be done. The Prime Minister of Barbados, Rt. Honorable Owen Arthur, in his Budget Speech of March 14th 2007, leads the way among Caribbean leaders by promising to transform Barbados into a green economy, with more responsible and sustainable consumption. He has given great incentive for the private sector to participate by providing a tax write off of 150% of the cost of participating in the Green Globe standards and certification program for travel and tourism businesses.
Moving forward, private and public sectors - the Caribbean Hotel Association and the Caribbean Tourism Organization, are jointly driving a series of meetings with travel stakeholders and partners in Europe to consider in practical terms how the current international focus on climate change will impact upon the Caribbean - the issues, the challenges, and the opportunities for the hotel and tourism industry in our region. In the long term, our aim is to ensure that the schemes to manage the carbon - emitting impact of travel, rather than putting our region at a disadvantage, fosters the growth and development of Caribbean nations.
Here at home, this is ultimately everyone's business - a holistic approach, where household, road transport, agriculture, and other industries' practices are incorporated into efforts to for a cleaner, safer, healthier environment and a sustainable future for all of us. Together, we can grow a greener economy that is based on protecting, respecting, and working within the boundaries of our region's natural systems and finite resources.
由 Kai-Chi 發表於 週五 4月 27, 2007 3:39 pm
艷陽加勒比，天天都是地球日Commentary: Every day is Earth Day in the Caribbean
編譯侯美如整理報導 台灣立報
每到4月22日，全球歡慶一個新環境運動的誕生。在這天，地球村各個角落都為了向「地球日」致敬而舉辦獨特的慶祝活動，不過，在加勒比海地區，地球日可不單只是個值得紀念的日子，多年來，它已在這裡紮根，蓬勃長成加勒比觀光業的企業道德。
在環保意識抬頭的潮流中，地球日終於在1970年問世，而加勒比各大私營飯店為維護環保盡心也已逾10載，其中，不少地方商家都參與「綠色地球」及ISO 14001等國際認可的旅遊業生態標識，在評估環保、汙染及消費需要同時有效管理業務，確實降低對地球的傷害。目前「加勒比旅店協會」共有47家「綠色地球」認可企業，領先全球，他們保護空氣、土壤和水道不受有毒化學物及廢料的污染，使用環保能源、減少溫室氣體排放量，在這裡，終年都是環保日。
他們的努力世界都看見了：涼鞋海灘酒店集團、巴哈馬的堤亞墨渡假村、阿爾蒙酒店、多明尼加的三河生態渡假村，這些都是享譽全球的綠色度假勝地。
而他們的每個小小努力，對生態環境都意義重大。最近才推出「天堂蜜月」套裝的知更鳥旅館，與「牙買加保存發展基金會」密切合作，回報旅客消費估計會產生的溫氣體，基金會將比造等量氣體栽植樹木，試圖達到碳平中和。「牙買加保存發展基金會」平時以衛星畫面控管森林砍伐，並大量栽種生長速度快、雖然經濟價值較低但富絕佳生物多樣性的樹種。
而三河生態渡假村則是在水資源和廢料問題上用心。所有廚房花園的廢棄物都轉作肥料之用，連灌溉的水源都取自廚房、浴室使用過的「灰水」，既不用使用化學肥、又滴水不浪費、同時也不需要額外的垃圾掩埋場，這樣環保的循環利用，一舉三得。
加勒比對旅遊生態如此重視，讓大氣中移除的溫室氣體甚至比他們排放的還多。巴貝多首相亞瑟在3月14日的預算演講中就提出，凡參加「綠色地球」等國際旅遊生態評估標準的私人企業，就得以減稅150％，大大鼓吹國內綠色經濟。
此外，當地民營「加勒比旅店協會」及國營「加勒比旅遊組織」也聯合舉辦一連串會議，集結當地業者及其歐洲合作組織，以實際層面商討如何應對氣候變異、如何控管溫溫室氣體、同時扶持加勒比地區順利發展。不只是旅遊業者，加勒比的每個住家也在居家、交通、生產上用心，和企業聯合展開全面綠化運動，朝更潔淨、更安全、健康的永續環境邁進。
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-1079--6-6--.html
Each year, April 22 marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. Many countries around the world celebrate this day with special activities and community events. In the Caribbean, the hotel and tourism industry is taking Earth Day way beyond a commemorative day, to a philosophy for doing business responsibly.
Looking back, Caribbean hotels have been responding to climate change for more than a decade. Several have led the regional private sector in mitigating environmental impacts through their participation in Green Globe or ISO 14001 certification programs. In fact, the Caribbean leads the world, as a region, with 47 Green Globe certified properties. These 47 properties, all members of the Caribbean Hotel Association, are transforming Earth Day into Earth Year-Round. Their operations have become progressively more efficient and competitive, while contributing to a sustainable future for all of us - protect our air, soil and waterways from toxic chemicals, harmful substances, and excess waste; reducing greenhouse gases responsible for global warning by investing in clean energy.
Their work to protect our earth has earned them not just accolades in our own backyard, but international recognition as well: Sandals and Beaches; Tiamo Resort in Bahamas; Almond Resorts; Amsterdam Manor Beach Hotel in Curacao; and 3 Rivers Ecolodge in Dominica, among many others.
Their practices are exemplary - significant, yet simple. Take the Hotel Mocking Bird in Jamaica, which recently announced its "Heavenly Honeymoon" package, whereby the hotel offsets their guests' calculated carbon footprint by contributing to the local Jamaican Conservation Development Trust - an entity that uses satellite imagery to work against the deforestation of a national park, planting fast-growing trees with little lumber value, but excellent for biodiversity.
Meanwhile, at the 3 Rivers Ecolodge, all kitchen and garden waste is turned into compost, to grow organic food on the property, irrigated in turn by treating gray water and then re-using it - a smooth chain that in swiftly does without the use of chemicals or fertilizers and reduces water consumption, as well as waste that would otherwise end up in a landfill.
This approach to doing business, along with other efforts by tourism stakeholders across the region, contribute to making the Caribbean tourism industry one that removes more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it adds.
As an exercise in awareness, take a look at the tourism industry in your country; you will find that much is being done - but much is still to be done. The Prime Minister of Barbados, Rt. Honorable Owen Arthur, in his Budget Speech of March 14th 2007, leads the way among Caribbean leaders by promising to transform Barbados into a green economy, with more responsible and sustainable consumption. He has given great incentive for the private sector to participate by providing a tax write off of 150% of the cost of participating in the Green Globe standards and certification program for travel and tourism businesses.
Moving forward, private and public sectors - the Caribbean Hotel Association and the Caribbean Tourism Organization, are jointly driving a series of meetings with travel stakeholders and partners in Europe to consider in practical terms how the current international focus on climate change will impact upon the Caribbean - the issues, the challenges, and the opportunities for the hotel and tourism industry in our region. In the long term, our aim is to ensure that the schemes to manage the carbon - emitting impact of travel, rather than putting our region at a disadvantage, fosters the growth and development of Caribbean nations.
Here at home, this is ultimately everyone's business - a holistic approach, where household, road transport, agriculture, and other industries' practices are incorporated into efforts to for a cleaner, safer, healthier environment and a sustainable future for all of us. Together, we can grow a greener economy that is based on protecting, respecting, and working within the boundaries of our region's natural systems and finite resources.
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