Green Globe recently recertified Bay Gardens Inn, Bay Gardens Hotel and Bay Gardens Beach Resort situated in Saint Lucia in the West Indies.
Sanovnik Destang, Executive Director at Bay Gardens Resorts, said: “As a locally owned and operated chain of resorts, it’s very important to us to maintain, sustain and achieve key sustainable initiatives that will not only benefit us but our island and our people. We are fully committed to continuing and developing new sustainability initiatives in order to do our part for the environment we all share and benefit from.”
Green efforts at all three properties have concentrated on increased efficiency in resource consumption, and the development of environmental and community initiatives that have resulted in positive outcomes for guests, local residents and staff.
Electricity usage is now managed by a metering system that monitors overall consumption in accommodation, dining areas and departments. With this data, areas of high consumption are pinpointed and energy saving measures put in place to decrease usage. This includes the changeover of refrigerators and other appliances to equipment with energy star ratings. In addition, there has been a substantial reduction in energy usage by 20% as a result of changing incandescent lighting to LED lighting and occupancy sensors to inverter AC units. Energy consumption used for lighting at the property has also dropped from 9w to 5w per LED bulb.
The island properties focus on water conservation and limiting waste volume in order to reduce their footprint and protect their unique geographical location. Showerheads and aerators in all guest rooms and public washrooms have been replaced with low flow water fixtures. The flow rate of showerheads is now 1.5 gallons per minute as compared to 2.5 gallons per minute. Furthermore, in line with waste management strategies, the resorts use biodegradable takeaway boxes instead of styrofoam thereby reducing the amount of garbage transferred to landfill.
Bay Gardens Resorts assist in spearheading connections between local farmers and hotels through the Saint Lucia Hotel and Tourism’s VACH program. The aim of the Virtual Agricultural Clearing House program is to stimulate economic activity within the region. The VACH operates on a Whatsapp platform to provide information on the availability of local crops to hotels, restaurants and food and beverage distributers.
Bay Gardens Resorts strive to organize meaningful community initiatives that will assist those in need. Over the past year, the properties continued to work with their adopted elementary school. Staff helped with planting a new school garden, assisting with building repairs such as paint touch ups and providing children with a healthy breakfast.
The Green Team have also been busy coordinating various environmental initiatives. On Earth Day this year, the team along with other staff members planted cherry trees, carambola, sugar cane, different varieties of mangoes, oranges and more in the kitchen garden for use in resort restaurants.
