Located on the Dutch island of Aruba, the Bucuti & Tara resort first emerged in 1987 as the result of a tourism boom that took hold of the island in the 1980’s. It was at this point that the owner and CEO, Ewald Biemans, already seeing how tourism was impacting the island he himself calls home, decided to focus on developing an environmental program as the core of Bucuti & Tara’s mission.

Now, after more than 20 years of development since Bucuti’s first Green Globe certification in 1999, the resort has earned every award imaginable for its sustainable operations and unique guest experiences. In 2018, Bucuti & Tara reached the milestone of becoming the first carbon neutral resort in the Caribbean, cementing its place as one of the top resorts in the world.

Find out more in our interview with Bucuti’s very own CEO, Ewald Biemans.

In this interview our team members from Sea Going Green sat down with Amber Westerborg, the Impact Manager of The Student Hotel (TSH) situated a few minute cycle from the heart of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. We asked TSH about their current sustainability projects and operations, how they are engaging staff and guests as well as some tips for other hotels looking to incorporate sustainability into their core business. 

Can a hotel be luxurious and sustainable at the same time? Is it possible that a hotel with as many as 200 rooms can generate its own electricity? Could a hotel serve as a social hotspot for locals? These are the questions I asked myself before writing this article. 

In this blog, I will highlight the newly constructed Hotel Jakarta Amsterdam in The Netherlands to showcase the forward thinking concepts that they have integrated into their hotel operations including electricity consumption, waste production and other innovative practices that incorporate sustainability.

Read on to see how this hotel embodies the “green future” and provides a quick city-escape without even having to take a plane.

Sea Going Green recently had the pleasure to interview Iris Overeem from the Recycled Island Foundation, a non-profit based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands to discuss their efforts to solve the issue of plastic pollution!

Their “plastic traps” catch floating plastic and upcycle it to close the loop by making it into a floating island structure, which can also function as an urban space for biodiversity and also city dwellers!

Check out this week’s blog to find out more about what inspired this project, how it works and its ambitions to become a new urban solution!