Discovery at Marigot Bay joins leading green initiative

Discovery at Marigot Bay on the scenic west coast of St Lucia, has joined the Leading Green Link program, enabling guests to make a conscious decision toward greener travel.

Through Leading Green Link, Discovery at Marigot Bay now enables travelers to make their reservations carbon-neutral when booking online at discoverystlucia.com. Each time they do so, The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. makes a contribution to Sustainable Travel International (STI), a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting responsible travel through programs that allow consumers to contribute to the well-being of the places they visit.

“By participating in this program, we enable our guests to help increase climate-friendly travel through the donation of funds to offset the carbon emissions generated during their entire stay at Discovery, via the Leading Green Initiative,” said Discovery’s Manager, Carl Beviere. “And we are pleased to note that our room rates have not been inflated to support this program, so there is no cost whatsoever to our guests.”

Successfully launched last year, the Leading Green initiative is an innovative carbon-offset effort designed to enable and encourage guests to make conscious decisions and contributions towards environmentally-friendly travel.

The US Energy Information Administration calculates that the average building uses 29.3 kilowatt-hours of electricity per square foot per year. Based on this number STI is able to compute the total amount of pounds of greenhouse gas emissions emitted per hotel room night including the average common area spaces. The carbon footprint is then translated into monetary terms and a donation made to STI’s green projects.

This is not the first time Discovery has undertaken environmentally conscious initiatives. In July 2007, the hotel launched the Caribbean’s first solar-powered ferry, the Sunshine Express, which won an Islands magazine Blue Award among other international accolades.

Other environmental initiatives include:

• The use of silt traps during the hotel’s construction to control run-off.

• State of the art sewage system. All grey water is cleaned and filtered and used for irrigation, nothing goes into the waters of Marigot Bay.

• Bio Vector Rational Control of biting insects. No malathion or other toxic chemicals are used. BVRC is a labour intensive method of control using land management, plant extracts and limited hormone applications specific to certain species only.

• Beach Regeneration – Discovery is working together with the rest of the local community to renourish the sand on Labas Beach, and to stop future erosion by building protective reefs and regulating boat activity.

• Support for the setting up of a local environmental committee, involving all other residents, businesses and educational establishments in the bay. This is also supported by a grant from NOAA and input from the Caribbean Students Environmental Alliance.
• Use of locally made paper and other products to minimize transportation costs and pollution.

• Sensitive building style which minimizes visual impact on the environment, making maximum use of local materials and tropical wood from sustainable sources.

• Collection and recycling of used cooking oil. This is collected by peter Dillon of St Lucia Organics, the organic farmer who supplies vegetables and herbs to the resort. He then converts the oil into bio-diesel to fuel the machinery on his farm and the vehicle he uses to deliver the vegetables and take away the used cooking oil. Discovery sponsors the project through the provision of materials and equipment for the conversion process.

For more information, log on to Discoverystlucia.com.