Tabacon Grand Spa Thermal Resort offers travelers a green and environmentally correct vacation travel option. Amidst the many choices for honeymoon, family holiday or spa vacation in Costa Rica, Tabacon is certified carbon neutral, environmentally friendly and sustainable.
In 2008, the President of Costa Rica, Dr. Oscar Arias announced Costa Rica's goal of becoming the first Carbon Neutral country, to be achieved by 2021. Dr. Arias then challenged all local institutions, both government owned and private, to calculate their carbon footprint, to design a plan to compensate for their carbon emissions and to achieve neutrality prior to the set date.
Tabacon's Green Brigade took the challenge to heart. Working together with government experts from the Environmental Ministry (Minaet) and local university officials, the group compiled exhaustive data on the resort's carbon emissions. Tabacon had two significant advantages that would accelerate the process towards carbon neutrality: the resort's water is naturally heated by the Arenal Volcano, thus saving energy in heating water for guest use, and most of the 350 hectares (over 700 acres) of land owned by the resort is covered by primary or secondary rainforest, providing a huge source of carbon fixation and oxygen release.
In February 2009, the Tabacon group leaders presented a comprehensive study and results to the Minister of the Environment, Dr. Roberto Dobles, and to high ranking officials of the French Embassy and Government in the environment and conservation field, proving their compliance to be 100% Carbon Neutral.
Key points included:
Carbon Footprint from consumption of electricity (CO2 Emissions) purchased to the public works company per year: 255.08 metric tons
Carbon Footprint from land transportation of staff members, in-resort guests and products to the resort per year: 133.79 metric tons
Carbon Footprint from use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas in Food & Beverage operations and generation of electricity per year: 303.67 metric tons
Carbon Footprint from travel by air by all employees and executives: 27.02 metric tons
Total Carbon Footprint per year (CO2 Emissions): 719.16 metric tons / year
Total Carbon Sequestering per year at 5.6 metric tons / year: 1960 metric tons
The net result was that Tabacon Grand Spa Thermal Resort has a ratio of 2:1 of carbon sequestering versus carbon emissions, exceeding the goal to be carbon neutral.
Currently, Tabacon's Green Brigade is coordinating with local authorities to receive certification by an accredited local university to revise the calculations and issue the C-Neutral Certificate.
On May 25, 2009, Tabacon received a letter from the Ministry of Environment in which it verified that Tabacon has complied with all requirements that the Costa Rican Government mandates for a C-Neutral certification. |
