CATEGORY:SPECIAL REPORT
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GRENADA – The 64-room luxury Spice Island Beach Resort in Grenada has achieved the prestigious Green Globe Benchmarked Certificate under the new Green Globe Certification program, which recognizes the resort’s commitment to operating at the world’s highest environmental standard.

Achieving this distinction means Spice Island Beach Resort can now proceed to the next step – securing the coveted Green Globe Certification. Spice was the first property on Grenada to be Green Globe Certified (in 2004); the certification expired during the time the resort was closed (as a result of Hurricane Ivan). During the $12 million rebuilding and renovation project that ensued, the resort made sure to keep environmentally-conscious operating procedures in mind because attaining Green Globe Certification upon completion of the project was a definitive goal.

“It’s the responsibility of those in the hospitality and tourism sectors to ensure that our operations integrate environmental and social policy,” said Sir Royston O. Hopkin, KCMG, chairman and owner of Spice Island Beach Resort.

“Instituting environmentally-conscious measures results in the reduction of non-renewable resources as well as yields an extensive cost-savings, and at Spice Island Beach Resort, we’re extremely proud to be doing our share to help sustain our island and its natural treasures,” he added.

Green Globe is the global Benchmarking, Certification and improvement system assisting the international travel and tourism industry to attain sustainability. Green Globe provides a certification system that responds directly to the major environmental problems facing the planet including the greenhouse effect, over-use of freshwater resources, destruction of biodiversity, production of solid and biological waste, and social issues.

Benchmarking is a means by which the operation can assess and improve its environmental performance. This Benchmarking requires the submission of information over a 12-month period about the operation’s environmental and social sustainability performance against a number of indicators such as energy and water consumption, etc

Some of the environmental practices instituted at Spice Island Beach Resort that paved the way for the property achieving the Green Globe Benchmarked Certificate include: switching the pools from a chlorine base to a salt base, a bottle return program, composting and the maintenance of a vegetable garden.

Obtaining the Green Globe Benchmarked Certificate comes on the heels of Spice receiving the AAA Four Diamond Award® for the third year. Spice’s AAA Four Diamond Award® rating will appear in the AAA 2007 Caribbean Tour Book guide. Less than three percent of the more than 32,000 properties approved by AAA achieve this rating.