After over two years of the pandemic, nobody really cares about the word “Corona” any longer. However, although not wanting to minimize its many negative aspects, this virus also had positive impacts on the environment and on people’s approach towards sustainability.

While awareness of a sustainable living style has increased over the past few years—thanks to Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for Future movement, among others—Corona taught humans that we’re getting too close to nature.  

Effects of the pandemic

Venice, for example: This is where the usually muddy, churning water in the canals cleared up. The reason for that? The absence of tourist boating, criticized for years. No dolphins have been seen for a long time, and Corona made a change. The empty canals have also been used by dolphins for a quiet visit to Venice. As several media reported, in March 2021, a pair of dolphins were spotted swimming past the famous St. Mark’s Square toward the Grand Canal. 

The lack of tourism in Thailand has also been beneficial to the natural environment. Giant schools of fish, absent for years, were sighted again, and the corals began to recover.

As a result of global action against the spread of the Coronavirus, Earth Overshoot Day shifted back three weeks from July 29 last year to August 22, 2020, which is roughly the same as in 2005 or 2006.

Prospects for the future

So, what will this mean for our future? No more traveling to foreign countries? Or even: no more tourism at all? Well, of course not! 

On the contrary, the experience of the past two years has taught all of us to focus on more sustainable options, to avoid reversing the process of nature’s regeneration. And that is where our Green Pearls ® partners come in. 

These accommodations are paying careful attention to the resource management of nature, minimizing the ecological footprint and acting in a fair and social manner. To guarantee that, they engage in many ecological and social projects. 

The Farmhouse Smiling Gecko in Cambodia, for example, is very committed to social issues, since the effects of the Vietnam War and the Khmer Rouge’s reign of terror can still to be felt in the country. Large parts of the infrastructure and state organizations were destroyed. 

Social commitment

The consequence? The people suffered poverty and a lack of education. Cambodia is today one of the poorest countries in the world. When you spend your vacation at the Farmhouse, you are helping to provide sustainable education and employment for the local people. Thanks to the cooperation with the Swiss foundation Fundaziun Uccelin, for example, both the kitchen and service team receive support and training from alternating Uccelin alumni. 

And you can find out what exactly the cultivation of vanilla has to do with improving the job situation in the blog “In the gardens of the Green Pearls partners”. 

Kasbah du Toubkal in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains is located near Marrakech and aims to offer a climate-neutral stay within the next 5 to 10 years. One contribution they plan to make to that end? Planting Juniper trees. 

Commitment to the native flora

This evergreen tree is indigenous to the high mountains of the Atlas Mountains, and you can spot it all the time as you explore the mountain landscape. However, the population is constantly decreasing. One of the reasons is probably that it is difficult to cultivate them, and juniper trees are very slow growing. A special piece of land around the Kasbah would allow the population to be reforested. The saplings could then be planted elsewhere in the national park.

Although the pandemic got in the way of the Moroccan hotel shortly before the project was implemented, it has not yet completely scrapped the plans. Besides the commitment for the environment, the Kasbah du Toubkal team is also socially committed and supports the Imlil Village Association with a 5% surcharge for overnight stays. 

With every overnight stay, you will support the Association to implement great projects. A school for 80 children in a remote valley and the first Hammam in the region have been built, waste disposal systems have been financed and Imlil Village Association has made possible the first ambulance and driver in the area.

Support social projects

Green Pearls® partners in Europe are of course also engaged in environmental and social activities. CERVO Mountain Resort in Zermatt, Switzerland, is situated on the foot of the Matterhorn. Besides its projects such as the monthly soup table and vegetable market, the resort also participates in several other projects. 

For instance, in the “Lebensraum Zermatt” association, which is dedicated to the sustainable development of the town. The CERVO is also involved in the non-central institution “Mitmänsch”. The organization’s goal is to support people with disabilities in shaping their lives in a self-determined way. 

Currently, what else is on the agenda? “We strive to incorporate the topic of a sustainable lifestyle into all areas of hotel life. A great project that is being implemented this summer was the hotel’s own herb garden,” says the Swiss hotel. Here you’ll be spoiled with goodies that have been grown, harvested and processed at the hotel.

Optimization of the hotel concept

Furthermore, work is still underway in Zermatt to optimize the energy concept and to constantly expand our value chain with new, innovative products.

A dedicated energy concept is currently also being planned at the Lifestylehotel SAND. To this end, Marion and Lambertus Muller have brought in an energy expert who has made some suggestions for improvement. These now have to be realized. 

Moreover, the hotel at Timmendorfer Strand has signed up to the German Sustainability Code (DNK). To meet this code, database users create a declaration on twenty DNK criteria. This regular reporting makes the company’s development over time visible.

Apart from its ecological commitment, the SAND also supports, for example, the local professional training center for young people with learning disabilities. In return, they carry out practice application interviews, offer internship weeks or provide accommodation for teachers as part of a student exchange program. 

You see, vacationing can also be sustainable—socially! All you have to do when selecting your accommodation is to make sure that it is committed to environmental protection and social initiatives or not.

Do you know, what else has an impact on your everyday life? Your food. So maybe take a look at this: Slow Food- Eat Smarter

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