Aruba on goal to become the first 100% sustainable destination
Aruba as a sustainable vacation destination.
By 2020, Aruba’s Smart Island Strategy will transition the island to 100 percent renewable energy, increase housing choices and neighborhood quality, strengthen social cohesion, reduce traffic congestion and improve mobility, reduce obesity and improve public health, improve water conservation, and diversify an expanding island economy. It would appear that Aruba will be the world’s first regarding being dependent on 100% sustainable energy.
Aruba, a 70 square-mile island, located just outside the hurricane belt. Aruba is now working on becoming the world’s first fully sustainable economy by 2020. In 2009, the island constructed the Vader Piet Windmill Farm which nowadays produces 20 percent of the island’s electricity with 10, 180 meter high, wind turbines, and arrangements are in progress for a second windmill park, multiplying the energy capicity, bringing them at about 40% – more than most places on this world.
Aruba is known for his Aruba Reef Care Project, the island’s biggest volunteer environmental initiative since 1994 and pulls in more than 800 individuals per year. Six resorts on the island are affirmed by EarthCheck, the premier international certification alliance for sustainable travel and tourism, and eight are headed to get the same certification. The project results in cleaner reefs, beaches and shallow waters.
Another project, One Happy Island of Aruba, is declared in May this year as the winner of the National Geographic World Legacy Award in the category ‘Destination Leadership’ for their unrivaled sustained efforts.
The in 2014 founded World Legacy Awards showcase leading travel institutions, organizations and destinations that encourage and execute sustainable tourism.
As “Destination leadership ‘winner, Aruba stood out to the jury immediately by its leading initiatives in the world of green energy. In 2012 Aruba began a partnership with Richard Branson’s Carbon War Room (CWR) and the Harvard University, founded to combat climate change. Due to the natural solar and wind sources on Aruba, the island is well on its way to becoming the first country in the world that operates completely without fossil fuels.
The government of Aruba promotes the use of renewable energy by actively promoting sustainable initiatives. They invested for example in wind farms, in an airport that runs on solar energy, in generating energy from waste and in eco-tourism. A new award winning tram that operates in the center of Oranjestad is the world’s first public transport that runs on batteries charged by wind and solar energy. These projects result in, besides a healthier environment, more money: Aruba saves about € 50 million per year through sustainable efforts.
It’s unmistakable that Aruba is relatively revolutionary in terms of sustainability, and is working harder and faster than most other countries. I would love to see more hotels and resorts around the world working towards a sustainable world.
Would you choose an eco-friendly property over another, if you had the choice between the two?
