11 Sustainable Practices for River Cruises
Photo by Grand Sud Mag
River cruises are becoming increasingly popular, which creates many new opportunities as well as challenges along with it.
In Europe alone, 1.4 million passengers took a river cruise in 2018, a number that’s rising annually. The kind of growth that we’ve seen from cruise tourism has placed a large burden on the marine environment. As a result, we have generally seen a rise in the trend of customers demanding for more responsible and sustainable tourism. To meet the increasing demand for sustainable cruising options, river cruise companies should think about their environmental impact and find ways on how to reduce it.
Here is a list of 11 practices that river cruises can make in order to create a more positive environmental impact:
Improve waste separation through the use of color-coded bins for different kinds of waste: recycling, organic waste, composting
Fit water taps with flow controllers such as aerators, restrictors or percussion. Fit showers with flow restrictors or special low-flow shower heads, for example the Hydrao shower head.
Put in place a towel and bed linen re-usage program with an incentive for guests
Reduce waste by limiting disposable items such as small packages for food such as jam, butter where bulk dispensers could be used instead.
Use refillable bottles and containers for items such as shampoo and soap.
Place glass reusable water bottles in guest bedrooms rather than plastic ones.
Offer a Sustainable Tourism Kit during the booking process filled with products such as a bamboo toothbrush, an ocean safe sunscreen, a water bottle or a reusable cotton swab.
Offer a carbon footprint offset option like the one used by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
Provide staff training on best environmental practices to reduce waste and create awareness around protecting local biodiversity
Showcase recommendations for environmentally friendly behavior in orientation booklets available in each cabin, as well as through the company TV channel in cabins.
Apply for a free sustainability certification by the Oceanic Global.
If you would like more information, please visit our website or schedule a free 30 minute consultancy call with us.