Half Moon Strives for Climate Protection
Luxury Resort to Implement Carbon-neutral/Climate-neutral Programmes
Boston, MA - June 16, 2010 - Richard Whitfield, managing director of Half Moon, the 400-acre luxury resort located in Rose Hall, Jamaica signaled the 56-year-old company's intention of becoming one of the first climate neutral and carbon-neutral resorts in the Caribbean.
Mr. Whitfield was speaking at the Association of Travel Marketing Executives award ceremony in Boston, Mass. where Half Moon was presented with the Green Innovation Award for the resort's pioneering and continued environmental and sustainable tourism programmes.
Already a Green Globe-certified property, Mr. Whitfield advised that the resort will go even further and undertake innovative operational changes that will reduce the property's carbon emissions. “We will offer our guests the opportunity to enjoy a climate neutral-carbon neutral vacation. We believe that more and more vacationers in this age of austerity will choose an environmentally concerned resort over one that is not so recognized,” Whitfield said.
In collaboration with the Inter-American Investment Corporation, a member of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, the resort undertook a carbon footprint assessment earlier this year. “We now have a clear picture of the greenhouse gas emissions generated by our operations; that is we know the size of our carbon footprint,” Whitfield said.
Armed with this information, Mr. Whitfield committed to reducing the size of the resort's footprint by implementing technological developments, better processes and improved product management. “We will find better ways to cool our rooms, heat our water and cook our food and we will offset our carbon footprint by sponsoring alternative projects in our community such as solar power, wind energy and reforestation,” Whitfield promised.
A Green Globe certified resort, Half Moon is situated on crescent-shaped white sand beach, with 198 rooms, suites and cottages as well as 33 four-, five-, six- and seven-bedroom villas; each with a private butler, cook and housekeeper, swimming pool and two golf carts. Green practices at Half Moon include a towel re-use programme where old beach towels are recycled into wash rags for cleaning; shredded papers used as packing materials for guests returning home with craft items; saw dust from the furniture shop sent to the Equestrian Centre for horse bedding; horse manure used to condition soil in the nursery gardens; waste oil sent to factories to be used in the manufacturing of poultry feed and low energy light bulbs utilized throughout the entire property.
For more information on Half Moon, please visit www.halfmoon.com.
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