To become eco-friendlier, Velas Resorts in Los Cabos, Riviera Maya, Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta are ditching single-use plastic straws (aka “environmental villains”) and switching them out for biodegradable paper ones. It’s estimated the efforts will eliminate 1.6 million straws in one year.
Straws aren’t the only environmentally safe products offered at these resorts. Cleaning and maintenance of the property are done by biodegradable supplies, and the resorts were recognized for their efforts via a Gold Status at EarthCheck, a company that certifies sustainable practices, and TripAdvisor’s GreenLeaders program. Other instances of Velas Vallarta’s efforts include fostering orphaned wildlife in the General Manager’s private pool and diverting over 700 pounds of raw food waste daily to the local hog farmer.
At the collection’s newest resort, Grand Velas Los Cabos, in an effort to protect animal and plant life, several hundred trees and cacti that only grow a centimeter each year were transported to create a conservation site. The place of stay is also conserving water: for every liter of portable water, 2.54 cups are available for reuse and 1.69 cups are returned to the soil. The resort’s residual water treatment facility receives and processes all water in the resort that’s used to water the exterior gardens.
Related Articles
Marriott, Oetker to Ban Plastic Straws
Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit Previews the 2018 Wellness Getaway