When we heal the earth, we heal ourselves. - David Orr
Spas are indisputably kind to the body, but whether they are kind to the environment is a much talked-about topic in the spa industry globally. And it is a question that cannot be ignored given the exponential growth in the spa industry in the past 15 years, a growth that shows no sign of abating. These days a spa is to top-end hotel/resort development what a swimming pool was in the 80's and a fitness center in the 90's -- an essential and expected service offering.
The word spa originates from the Latin
salus per aquam -- health through water -- and spas in the 21st century certainly use as much water as their historical counterparts with water-influenced components appearing on almost every spa menu. On top of this, thousands of litres of chemicals disappear down spa bathroom drain holes every year in the never-ending quest for cleanliness, air conditioning keeps guests cool, electricity provides atmosphere through ambient lighting and music and the demands for ever longer shelf life for products, often packaged in plastic, mean that "all natural" and "recyclable" are still some way off.
Enter
Green Globe's Spa Benchmarking Initiative, a new addition to their existing stable of environmental benchmarking and certification programs, which will officially be launched in April 2008.
Green Globe is the only international benchmarking and certification program designed specifically for the travel and tourism industry. Their benchmarking criteria are based on the Agenda 21 principles for Sustainable Development endorsed by the United Nations at the Rio De Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992.
The company launched in 1993 and recently merged with EC3 Global to launch the new Green Globe Company Standard. The union of these two companies has enabled them to meet the growing sustainability challenges faced by their mutual clients in the travel and tourism industry by providing a more comprehensive and integrated suite of complementary products and services.
I asked Laura Hyams of Green Globe how their benchmarking standards and processes differ from more widely known programs such as those offered under the ISO umbrella. She explained that all Green Globe Standards are performance-oriented, providing participants with a framework to benchmark and thus measure, monitor and improve their environmental and social sustainability.
There is one notable twist to Green Globe certification, though. "We also require increased community interaction as part of a company's standard practice," Hyams told me, "ensuring that the wider community also receives the sustainability message."
The design phases of a project are addressed by Green Globe's Design & Construct or Precinct, Planning & Design Standards. For their operational benchmarking and certification program, they assess ten areas including greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency, conservation and management, land use planning and the management of freshwater resources, waste water and solid waste.
The certification program has six stages, shown in the figure below.
"Participation in Green Globe establishes awareness for the carbon footprint of the property motivating one to act accordingly," commented Brenda Ramen of GHM Ltd, operators of two Green Globe certified hotels on the Indonesian island of Bali. "It may not create extra business for us, however guests do appreciate our efforts, especially as environmental issues become more and more of a consideration."
Following on from their success in the wider tourism and travel sector Green Globe decided to turn their attention to the spa arena because of its rapid expansion. "We recognized a program needed to be developed to specifically address environmental factors unique to a spa's operations," Hyams explained. "The ability to benchmark the performance of the spa sector is less to do with the need to make them 'greener' as to ensure their sustainability as an operation."
Green Globe's definition of sustainability addresses an operation's performance over the long-term, looking at both environmental and social factors. Hyams said that because the spa industry is already well immersed in the ideas of harmony with nature, the Green Globe spa sector benchmarking ensures that spas have a framework to make their environmental and social ideals a reality by enabling them to measure and make improvements to their performance each year.
Green Globe has already developed guidelines for 31 sectors; spas are merely the latest. Each sector within the Green Globe program has sector-specific benchmarking indicators that identify the measures that need to be recorded by an operation. The spa benchmarking process has the following 12:
- Energy consumption
- Water consumption
- Water Saving
- Water Source
- Waste Sent to Landfill
- Waste Recycling
- Community Commitment
- Community Contributions
- Paper Products
- Treatment & Cleaning Products
- Pesticide Products
- Staff Wellness
During a benchmarking assessment a spa is compared to other spa businesses in the same region using Baseline and Best Practice levels for the industry. As more spa operations join the Green Globe program, these levels will reviewed to ensure they are consistent with current spa industry practice worldwide.
Alila Hotels and Resorts, a company that has already committed to Green Globe's benchmarking processes and received certification for two of their hotels, welcomes the new spa-specific initiative.
"Spa-specific environmental benchmarks and yearly accreditations are definitely a necessity for all spa developers and operators to take onboard," explained Steve Jeisman, Spa Development Manager of Spa Alila. "Such programs bring great awareness to not only the spa's owners and developers but also its employees, surrounding villages and associated businesses."
Looking to the future, what does Green Globe have in the pipeline once their spa benchmarking goes live? Hyams said that, in addition to revamping its website to promote more environmentally responsible travel, Green Globe's parent company, the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Center, will launch a range of projects designed to help travelers reduce their impact, beginning with an online carbon calculator.
As someone actively involved in the spa industry, both as a professional and a consumer, I am delighted that we now have a practical tool that will assist us as an industry to make our spas and the experiences they offer as kind to the planet as they are to our bodies and souls.
Jacqueline Le Sueur is MD of Creative Health & Training, a spa development and training consultancy based in Singapore. She is a multi-disciplined complementary health practitioner with a background in hospitality training and is committed to seeing soul, heart and passion returned to the workplace. She is published internationally on all aspects of health and wellness.
