Inside Luxury Resorts in Maldives on World Environment Day
Every year on 5th June, World Environment Day is celebrated as the most renowned day for environmental action. This year’s theme being ‘celebrate biodiversity’, look into what the luxury resorts in the tropical Maldives are doing to mark this day.
Meeru Island Resort & Spa
Meeru Island has introduced glass soda bottles at the bars and minibars at the resort, replacing the plastic bottles. Along with this and other eco-friendly approaches, such as using paper straws instead of plastic and reusable bottles, Meeru strives to conserve their resources as well as to reduce carbon footprint.
At Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru and Kuda Huraa, marine conservation and plastic reduction has been a serious topic for nearly 20 years. The Resorts have used reusable terracotta toiletry bottles since 1998; paper straws since 2010; reusable glass water bottles since 2012; and have been collaborating with Parley since 2016 to recycle any leftover plastic into sportswear.
Four Seasons have a team of ten full-time marine biologists, called Marine Savers, who have carried out key projects including The Maldivian Sea Turtle Conservation Program, Turtle Rehabilitation Centre, Reefscapers and Coral Propagation, The Fish Lab and Anemone Mapping, Dolphin ID Project and The Manta Trust.
Kuredu Island Resort
The resort carries out a variety of initiatives to protect the wonderful biodiverse environment, from line drying most of the laundry and supplying eco-friendly bathroom products to bottling own water and growing their own fruit and vegetables.
But something that really stands out are the initiatives taken to reduce energy. Kuredu’s Team Village has 4,160 solar panels installed on its rooftops. Each panel generates 240 watts of maximum power during a sunny day using the photovoltaic system (converting sunlight into an electric current). Further, the resort’s hot water requirements are met through a high-efficiency heat recovery system, which allows 804kg of emissions to be saved every day.
LUX* South Ari Atoll
To celebrate the day, the resort gathered to plant coconut trees and collect plastic bottles washed ashore. The coconut trees that were planted by the resort were in honor of all healthcare heroes out there, to serve as permanent reminders of their invaluable acts of service during this challenging time.
Summer Island had cleaned up their beautiful beach, which collected many plastic bottles, bottle caps and nylon ropes. The resort also published a video creating awareness on environmental protection. ‘You should not collect the shells on the beaches because it is home to the hermit crabs. When plastic degenerates into the ocean it is changed into micro plastics, which fish and birds often mistake them for food, harming both marine life and humans. There are simple things you can do to reduce waste produced such as using reusable bags and water bottles.’
Taj Exotica shared a glimpse of their celebrations, including planting more trees at the resort already admired for its lush greenery. Did you know that Taj Exotica was the first resort in Maldives to receive the EarthCheck Gold certification?
The resort has its own rainwater catchment system and water-heating system, as well as a program to minimize waste. Further, its Reef Recharge program, a coral conservation effort formed in partnership with the hotel and Ocean Dive Maldives, is in place to protect the delicate reef system and give guests a chance to sponsor and build their own coral reef.
