A outstanding signal of the technology of sustainable lodgings is the luck of Soul Group Planet (SCP), a hotelier that prioritizes environmental duty, along side wellness and social stewardship. Ken Cruse, co-founder and leader government officer, and Pam Cruse, co-founder and leader advertising officer, lead the corporate, which recently owns and operates 9 accommodations: 3 in California, 3 in Oregon, and 3 in Colorado, Hawaii, and Costa Rica, respectively. “We’ve each been within the business for a very long time, and we noticed such a lot of just right issues which might be being executed by way of such a lot of nice firms. However we additionally noticed a rising want that used to be no longer being met. And that’s serving eco-conscious shoppers,” defined Ken in dialog with LODGING at ALIS 2023. “So, our logo is orientated across the values of wholesome, type, and inexperienced.” Ken and Pam additionally represent those core values as “soul, group, and planet.” “Soul manner caring for our visitors, group is the social just right, and planet is the point of interest on regenerative shuttle,” she mentioned. Pam additionally pointed to a number of fresh milestones SCP has reached within the “planet” house, together with attaining company-wide Internet 0 Waste for 2022, incomes a brand new EarthCheck benchmark, and launching the Pristine Playa program on Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula.
Attaining Internet 0
Closing yr, SCP completed internet damaging waste of roughly 1.5 kilos in line with occupied room right through its portfolio, producing an estimated one pound of landfill waste in line with occupied room (lower than part of the estimated business reasonable) and an estimated 2.5 kilos of waste restoration and carbon sequestration in line with occupied room. “Because of the SCP staff’s focal point and difficult paintings, all of our accommodations have carried out measured scale back, reuse, recycle methods,” Ken mentioned in a press remark. “Accounting for offsets, reminiscent of carbon sequestered by way of the timber and kelp we plant and ocean waste we recuperate via methods like Pristine Makai in Hawaii—and now Pristine Playa in Costa Rica—we’re recently exceeding our Internet 0 Waste goal. That mentioned, our final function is to reach just about 0 forged waste in line with visitor keep impartial of carbon and waste-recovery offsets. This can be a lofty however possible function, as maximum forged waste generated by way of accommodations is senseless meals waste and packaging.”
EarthCheck
SCP Redmond has completed Bronze Benchmarked popularity via EarthCheck, a number one industry advisory workforce that specialize in sustainability and vacation spot control for the shuttle and tourism business. EarthCheck has now known each SCP Redmond and SCP Hilo as regional leaders in power intake, greenhouse fuel emissions, and group contributions. The certification is finished in two stages: Benchmarking, the quantitative analysis of a belongings’s environmental and social efficiency; and Certification, the verification of the ones requirements by way of an licensed third-party EarthCheck Auditor. SCP Redmond and SCP Hilo are anticipated to reach Silver Qualified standing in 2023.
Pristine Playa
SCP Corcovado Wasteland Resort’s new Pristine Playa program, carried out in partnership with Fundación Corcovado, targets to stay the adjoining Corcovado Nationwide Park freed from ocean waste. “Sadly, Corcovado Nationwide Park—which homes 3 p.c of the arena’s biodiversity, and which the Nationwide Geographic Society outlined as probably the most biologically intense position on the earth—merely lacks the assets to habits common waste cleanups,” Ken defined. A part of SCP’s Each Keep Does Just right program, the Pristine Playa program is anticipated to recuperate extra ocean waste from the shores of Corcovado Nationwide Park than might be generated by way of the already waste-efficient SCP Corcovado Wasteland Resort. This system may also supply source of revenue for citizens of the economically challenged Osa group.
At ALIS 2023, Ken mentioned the comments SCP is receiving on its solution to hospitality. “We’re getting increasingly more other people coming as much as us, pronouncing, ‘Hi there, we adore what you’re doing,’” he mentioned. “In order that’s a super validation and provides us a way of wind in our sails as we keep growing the emblem.”
