In the last episode of my Sustainable Earth series, I told you that I found some eco-friendly
hotels to check out thanks to the website Green Pearls who specializes in finding sustainable
accommodations around the world, ones that actually care about protecting the environment
and local culture.
In this episode, I flew to Koh Samui, Thailand, where I stayed at one of the most impressive
eco-conscious hotels I’ve ever seen, The Tongsai Bay.
Welcome to Tongsai Bay.
How was your journey?
It was good.
We will take care of your luggage.
Well thank you.
First off, because I love to show how sustainability and style go hand-in-hand, I want to kick
off this episode by showing you the design of the hotel rooms.
Okay so this should be nice, I'm excited to see what it looks like.
Okay listen, this is where I will be every day while I'm here.
How cute is this you guys?
They are flower made out of fruit.
It's like literally rose petals made out of watermelon.
Next up, Hong, the Chief Environmentalist of Tongsai Bay, gave me a tour of their organic
garden, where I discovered that everything from the flowers in my room, to the décor
in the spas, and even the food that I ate were for the most part, organically grown
right there in their garden.
We've got the Chief Environmentalist and the Chief Gardener here showing us around the
organic garden at Tongsai Bay.
Very excited to see what they're doing and the waves they're making in sustainability.
The garden is huge.
They grow fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices, and all without the use of pesticides.
Instead they use biological pest control methods.
For example they’ve created effective insect traps to keep the bugs out.
Another method they use is shielding some of their produce from insects by keeping them
covered.
Guys this is really really incredible.
I mean I always try to look for hotels that practice sustainable habits but it's really
hard sometimes because you'll have a lot of hotels that will claim to be sustainable and
really all they're doing is encouraging guests to turn off the lights when they're done or
not change the sheets every day, but i mean this hotel is legit.
I mean they are really serious about the environment and practicing sustainability and I'd say
they're probably at the forefront of engaging in a lot of sustainable eco-friendly practices
that a lot of hotels don't do.
And you can tell that the staff is really passionate about the environment, you know,
they're not just doing it for their bottom line, they're not just doing it to attract
people who are interested in sustainability, they're not just doing it to hop on a trend,
they're doing it because they genuinely care for the environment, the animals, everything,
I mean their efforts are incredible.
And they just cut down a papaya from their tree so I'm pretty happy.
You know me, I love fruit.
It's right in the bag.
So thank you.
I appreciate that.
They cut the papaya from the garden for me, thank you so much.
Ooh this is fresh papaya too.
I'm excited.
Look at this.
Yesss, nom noms.
Very sweet, thank you.
Hong also explained to me the 7 principles of Tongsai Bay’s Green Project.
Their environmental and social sustainability practices include: 1.
the preservation and care of animals and plants.
They even have a strict employee termination policy if they harm animals or cut plants
on the property.
They also provide water ponds and even seek medical treatment for any injured animals
they find.
2.
Waste minimization.
For example, I noticed some of the very creative ways they turned their recyclables into products,
like the artwork that that comes from recycled paper or this old bathtub they reused for
gardening.
3.
Energy conservation – they even have these cute little solar jar lamps.
4.
Water management and conservation, which means they’ve designed their bathrooms to save
water and also have an impressive system for treating ground and tap water.
5.
Air and noise pollution reduction, meaning they focus on things like reducing greenhouse
gas emissions and encouraging a more quiet and peaceful environment.
6.
Reduction of hazardous substances and chemicals.
While I was touring the organic garden, I went inside their composting house where I
found lots of examples of eco-friendly products they create for cleaning.
And lastly number 7.
Sustainability Awareness.
A sustainable hotel is really only as green as its staff and guests, so they work hard
to educate the staff on environmental practices and encourage guests to do their part as well.
Now what about food?
I follow a sustainable vegan diet, and I never had any issues in Thailand finding vegan food.
Ginger juice, very good, very fresh.
Tongsai Bay had plenty of vegan-friendly options for me.
And I even went to Thai Curry Pot night, where they were able to prepare meatless curry dishes
for me.
Okay first curry dish is served, it's green curry and they gave me brown rice, white rice,
and noodles, to try it with.
And they also put tofu in it.
Mmmm.
Yum.
Okay just checked out of the resort, super sad I'm definitely going to miss this place.
It's one of the most sustainable resorts I've ever stayed at and because my flight is so
early and I had to leave before breakfast, they packed me breakfast and put it in a paper
bag of course.
So I'm going to go to the airport and I'm going to chow down on this breakfast and catch
my flight, bye guys.
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