After my Earthwatch expedition was over, I traveled to Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge with my husband to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary. Playa Nicuesa is beautiful-- the front yard is the Pacific Ocean and the backyard is the rainforest. As a true eco-lodge, they are doing some interesting work with sustainable tourism. Here are some highlights:
Construction
-Lodge buildings are on only 2% of the property.
-Recycled construction materials were used such as roof tiles and plastics made from recycled banana bags.
Operation
-Electricity is provided by solar energy.
-Solar drying room dries all laundry.
-Trash is separated into recyclables and compost.
-Trenches are utilized to manage heavy amounts of rainfall and reduce soil erosion.
-Gardens and landscapes are maintained without fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides.
-Organic-biodegradable shampoos, soaps, and cleaners are used.
-Meals focus on national and regional cuisine, with food grown on property or locally.
Community
-98% of staff are Costa Rican; most from local area.
-Playa Nicuesa assisted in creating a local recycling collection center.
-They display decorations and sell locally produced artwork and handicrafts in an effort to support the development of local artists.
-They sponsor a Costa Rican student to attend a local bilingual school.
They also are seeking to become certified as a carbon-neutral company, meaning that they do not input any carbon into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. Realistically, they cannot do this 100%. For example, they have to use boats for transportation and the boats can only currently run on fossil fuels. They buy credits to offset this carbon use. The credits support local reforestation efforts (trees are planted which help use the carbon their boats produce). This means less climate change.
For more information about sustainable tourism, check out http://www.sustainabletravelinternational.org/
