CAST Honors Sandals Property for Going Green

Sandals Grande Ocho Rios Beach & Villa Resort was named the 2007 Green Hotel of the Year at the American Express Caribbean Environmental Awards. The resort was honored for demonstrating responsibility for and commitment to environmental and social performance through its policies, plans and activities.

Sandals Resorts’ Chairman and Founder Gordon “Butch” Stewart was presented with the award by Royston Hopkins, chairman of the Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism, at the opening ceremony of the Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Conference, in Miami on June 17.

The resort received the highest combined scores of any resort in the Caribbean based on five criteria: environmental management and stewardship, conservation of natural resources, awareness and community activities, infrastructure and technology, and health and safety.

The resort has implemented a “Four R” commitment program: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rethink. To support this, every structure on the property makes efficient use of natural lighting, almost everything is recycled –including linens, food, paper products and unused drinking water (which is used on the plants and gardens)- and water and energy consumption is continuously monitored.