Resorts can do more to protect the environment said Alex Pettitt, host of television's Mainstream Green. Of they work to conserve water consumption, but they don't have a sustainable design. Some offer eco-trips, but the hotels don't do anything to be eco-friendly themselves. Everything the resort does must take sustainability into consideration.
Sustainability Found in Panama
The Resort at Isla Palenque, a resort island in Panama, has made sustainability its main focus, according to its architect. The resort considers life cycle and includes the workers in the plans. Amble Resorts, owner of the hotel, has planned to protect the property from uncontrolled development. Less than 5 percent of the island's 400 acres will be built and 220 acres will be preserved as a private forest. Everyone, including builders, employees and guests, are considered caretakers of the island.
Sustainable building techniques will offset the effects of the resort on the island's ecosytems. Homes will be built on stilts to prevent erosion. Positioning of roads and homes will disturb the environment the least. Isla Palenque's facilities will be built using present resources whenever possible, reducing the transportation of materials from the mainland and the use of fossil fuels that would require.
Some Baltimore hotels are making sustainability part of its culture too. They are changing their designs and increasing money too.
Electric Vehicles Protect the Environment
On the 40th anniversary of U.S.'s Earth Day, April 22, 2010, an electric car company wanted to dispel myths about these products. Richard Canny, chief executive officer of THINK, listed these top 10 myths.
- Pollution goes from cities to countries. Electric vehicles are three-to-five times more efficient than gasoline-powered vehicles. The efficiency of electric vehicles makes them cleaner even when they are charged using coal-fired electricity.
- Customers want more than 200-mile range. This issue diminishes when people get used to driving electric vehicles on a daily basis. It's similar to charging a cell phone. THINK has a fast-charging product that covers those rare situations when an electric vehicle will be needed for more than 100 miles.
- The battery won't last. Electric vehicle batteries are designed to last at least 10 years and more than 100,000 miles.
- More power plants must be built. There is enough off-peak electricity in the United States to power 79 percent of driving demand.
- The United States will have a lithium shortage. Lithium carbonate comes from dried salt lakes in South America and China. Lithium can be extracted from salt water, and projects are under way to do this. Lithium batteries will be recycled, and they contain no hazardous materials.
- Infrastructure has to come first. The best way to deploy electric vehicles is to get cars on the road first, then add the infrastructure. If there are no electric cars to use those plugs and parking spots, people see it as wasteful.
- They're not safe. Highway-certified electric vehicles meet the same safety and crash test requirements as regular cars.
- The technology is complicated. A modern electric vehicle has about five moving parts compared with hundreds in an internal combustion engine.
- Fast-charging electric vehicle batteries will wear them out quickly. Modern prismatic lithium batteries can be developed with fast-charging in mind. The critical technology is in the cell design to manage battery temperature during charging.
- Plug-in hybrids are the best solution. Carrying around the extra-weight and cost of two powertrains makes little sense. Having an electric vehicle and a fuel-efficient gasoline-powered car makes more sense.
Experts argue that resorts and vehicle owners can do more to protect the environment on Earth Day.
Louise Harris - Louise Harris has worked in the journalism field since she graduated in 1989 from the University of Maryland College of Journalism. She is ...
