Image courtesy of SpaBreaks.com

The current trend in many areas of life is towards eco friendliness and spa and wellness centres are no different. Changes to products available through to power usage are all required to meet the customers demand for spa days full of luxury and pampering at a lower cost to the environment.

There are many ways that spas can be environmentally responsible, from choosing natural products and foods in the restaurant and cotton and bamboo towels in changing rooms to using renewable energy to meet their large power demands. Some spas have the luxury of naturally occurring resources such as the Blue Lagoon in Iceland and Tabacon Grand spa in Costa Rica, both of which have thermal springs providing a constant supply of warm, mineral rich water to their visitors on spa days and weekends.

Titanic Spa in Yorkshire claims the title of the UK’s first eco spa; built in a textile mill it is a carbon neutral building. Heat and power are provided by a renewable wood burner, the pool is salt regulated rather than chlorine and solar panels top up the power year round. Fresh water is provided by a 100m deep borehole and all the washing is done with cold water which is made possible by an OTEX laundry system

Yu Spa at the Apex City Hotel in Dundee is Scotland’s first eco spa. It uses Elemis botanical products and the pool is kept clean with ozone rather than chlorine. Hot tubs have ultraviolet filters instead of using chemicals and the lids are replaced overnight to reduce heat loss. The pool lights are LEDs which vastly reduces the energy demand and the changing room showers have flow regulators. A lot of their measures are very simple; centred around training staff and developing new habits; all the staff are given refillable water bottles to use.

Around the world many other eco-friendly spas use their own unique and often creative ways of reducing power usage and waste and using natural products. Aquacity in Slovakia is almost entirely self-sufficient, using geothermal, solar and wind power to provide its energy. Marari Beach in India recycles waste into natural gas to provide its power and the local community provide food in the form of fish and locally grown produce. Daintree Eco Lodge and Spa in Australia is blended into the rainforest and all treatments and menus are designed through consultation with the elders of the local Aboriginal Kuku Yalanji people.

More eco spa days and holidays will become available as resorts change to meet the demand of the customers, making treating yourself to a relaxing massage more appealing as you are able to do it free of any guilt about your impact on the environment.

The Tourism for Tomorrow awards have taken placing revealing the best resorts to visit to support sustainable tourism.

The ceremony took place in Las Vegas, Nevada and winners of the coveted prizes were split between Africa and Europe, as well as an Australian firm.

The Conservation Award is open to any kind of tourism enterprise, including tour operators, hotels, lodges or other accommodation, as well as attractions or tourist businesses, which are able to show how their operation makes a difference to the natural environment.

This year’s winner was Singita Pamushana, a southeastern Zimbabwean lodge, lying within the Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve and nominated for its partnership with the Reserve’s Trust. Working together, the two organisations have made a tangible difference to not only the wildlife in the area, but also the villagers, rehabilitating areas plundered by poaching and bringing clean water and nutritional education to 10,000 local people.

The Community Benefit Award is for any scheme or project which demonstrates how their contribution directly helps local villages and people in a practical way, such as transferable skills or supporting heritage or development in communities.

Guludo Beach Lodge secured the honours this year for its work with the local people in the area. Located in a deprived region in Mozambique, close to both the bush as well as the Indian Ocean, the centre opened five years ago with the aim of helping local communities at a grass-roots level. The non-profit group has successfully implemented several projects which bring a significant benefit to local people such as malaria prevention and treatment, agricultural education, basic healthcare, as well as safe drinking water.

The slightly confusingly-named Destination Stewardship Award is given to a place which hosts a network of sustainable tourism enterprises, which must incorporate not only cultural, environmental and social improvements, but also multi-party involvement.

This award went to Europe, with the Alpine Pearls network the winner for its association of 24 communities across Alpine countries, including Italy, France, Switzerland, Slovenia, Austria and Germany, which boasts a sustainable transport capability. The villages within the network all have electric, solar powered vehicles, as well as bicycles available at no cost, along with low-carbon forms of public transport.

The last honour, the Global Tourism Business Award, is open to any firm which employs at least 500 people full-time and operates across more than one country, while still maintaining exemplary sustainable tourism principles. This award went to Intrepid Travel in Australia, for its commitment to fair trade, support provided for local business areas, as well as its eco-friendly policies.

The first eco-city in the Gulf state of Abu Dhabi opened its doors to visitors for a day long fair to showcase the features which make it unique.

Masdar has been designed as a true eco-city of the future, labelled as carbon-free with architectural designs specifically tailored to harnessing the natural power of the environment. Although the Gulf region is traditionally known for its ultra-modern cities and towering skyscrapers, Masdar offers a blend of traditional Arab design combined with eco-friendly, green credentials.

Rising out of the surrounding desert like a mirage from the future, Masdar is around 17 kilometres from the busy city centres in Abu Dhabi. A walled escarpment, the development stretches over six square kilometres and is powered solely by sustainable energy such as solar power. With the changeable weather conditions a fierce enemy at times, the architects have cleverly designed the streets to provide the maximum shelter from the blistering sun, as well as protection from sandstorms and desert winds, by a traditional array of backstreets, thick walls to keep the heat out and sheltered alleys. The end product means the development, despite its futuristic claims, looks completely at home in the Gulf.

The city will not be fully completed until around 2025 when it is intended that a population of around 50,000 will inhabit the development. Undoubtedly, there will be many changes to plans between now and then, already there have been amendments. There are currently a number of unmanned ‘pods’ – officially called Personal Rapid Transit – but there are now doubts about whether this much-hailed new technology will make the final cut. The pods are driverless cabs which are powered by batteries capable of recharging themselves whilst waiting at stations. The pods can travel up to 25mph on bends and 40mph in a straight line. A central computer provides guidance, with sensors on board the pod which ensure any obstacles are detected as well as magnets in the pathway, all part of an advanced navigation system. However, the practicalities involved of providing a satisfactory network of pods is rumoured to be proving too complex to be an efficient system and, as such, may well be scrapped.

Despite being a long way from total completion, the city has the basic infrastructure up and running and has just held its first event, a kind of traditional Arab street fair, showcasing the city at its best, with the addition of festival stalls and entertainment. Future events will continue to be held to attract visitors to the city, which all agree is a destination worth visiting for a new experience.

A scheme that sounds clucking mad is being piloted to provide a village with energy, courtesy of chickens, cows and pigs, wiping out the need for oil, foreign gas or coal.

The trial is being run close to Hatherop, a small Cotswold village near Cirencester and is one of the first in the UK to run a pioneering power station using so-called ‘digester gas.’ The gas is produced using a combination of cow manure, chicken litter and slurry from pigs and can be manufactured at a very low cost.

The plant which is rather a bizarre muffin shape is erected on a local farm, where it extracts methane from waste from crops such as grass and maize as well as animal manure. One single power plant is capable of producing sufficient energy to run 175 homes. This type of sustainable energy is not only low cost but also brings a whole host of other benefits, not just to the region but also to the farmers.

As the power plant is fuelled by decaying animal waste and plant matter, the carbon footprint in importing energy from overseas is eradicated as well as removing the reliance on fossil fuels. Local farmers are able to simply deliver their waste and the plant will incinerate the products, so generating the energy. The sceptics will undoubtedly be wondering about the effects of having such a heap of less-than-fragrant matter being burnt close to residential areas. The answer is somewhat surprising. As the process takes place inside an enclosed dome, the typical farmyard smells of processing wastes are actually eliminated, an unexpected but welcome side-effect.

Once the energy has been extracted, the powerful fertiliser remains can be recycled and used by the farmer, a huge saving as fertiliser is one of the main agricultural costs. The environment also benefits as the production of fertiliser usually results in the emission of a lot of CO2 gases and with the end product being transported over long distances, there is also a significant carbon footprint.

The project in the Cotswolds is being funded by a Rural Development Programme for England grant, partly financed by a European Agriculture fund. However, the project will earn revenue for farmers because as well as saving costs on fertiliser and providing free heating and grain drying, the power plant will also provide income for farm waste.

With so many benefits, visitors to English villages can expect to see a number of bizarre muffin shaped domes popping up all around the country very soon…