Coconut Bay - St. Lucia

Business View Magazine 5 Sustainability endeavors also occupy a primary place on the resort’s day-to-day and long-term agenda. Two full-size greenhouses enable Coconut Bay to grow some of its own produce and maintain consistency in supply as a measure to supplement supplies from lo- cal farmers. The hotel purchases a range of livestock/fish meat products, vegetable, fruit and root crops from ap- proximately 60 farmers, which results in substantial revenue for these local entrepreneurs. Existing on-site nurseries are the birthplace for all the resort’s orna- mental plants and herbs. An aloe garden is the source of all aloe for spa and guest needs, and a partnership with the World Trust Bank five years ago resulted in a rain-water harvesting system with which all rain is collected into 16,000-gal- lon cisterns, filtered and used to replenish the proper- ty’s pools. There are a number of other green initiatives practiced by the hotel in its operations as well, includ- ing paper recycling, waste separation, tree planting, utilizing waste from four adopted donkeys as manure and use of seaweed and wood shavings for mulching. The 34 new luxury rooms will be entirely off the grid, with solar air conditioning and water-heating capabili- ties. The spa is all solar water-heated as well, and ini- tiatives into wind power are being discussed for the future, Hughes said. “We’re making an effort to do our part and try to save costs as well as reducing our footprint,” he said. “We