Island blog 

Have you ever noticed how many resorts claim to be Eco? I mean really, over half the resorts out there say they are Green. If they put up a solar panel they are an eco-resort. If they use biodegradable soap, they are eco-friendly. Buy an L.E.D. lightbulb and they are saving the planet.

This has all gone too far, especially considering they don’t just say it, they scream it. They run headlines in magazines and newspapers. They smear it across the internet. They brand themselves green and blast it with every bit of media they enter. Even stooping so low as to mention it in the bathroom, preaching through signs and letters that you should try harder to save water and reuse your towel (to save them money).

What green means to NoaNoa Island

I don’t have a problem with the rare well-planned resort that tries hard to minimize their carbon footprint by building smart with optimum window-quality and super insulated ceiling and walls while staying away from generators and off the power grid but using solar electric panels for all electric needs and passive solar for domestic hot water and for heating the building. These are the ones that are really walking the talk. These are also the ones that are using all L.E.D. bulbs, not as a gimmick but as a necessity. And you can bet they are using biodegradable soap and implementing a host of other brilliant green ideas for the serious reason of protecting the pristine environment they live in. If these enlightened souls choose to say they are eco conscious I think they have earned it. But you know what? These guys rarely mention how green they are. To them, it is just a way of life.

Years ago, I ran a ski resort but I’m living in the tropics now and as crazy as it may sound, I’ve learned that operating a green or eco sensitive resort in the tropics is much more difficult to do than in frigid places. This is mostly a result of the type of tourists that frequent the tropics. When tourists travel to the cold, they prepare themselves for the cold but when tourists travel to the tropics they expect everything to be comfortable. They expect cool air indoors.

In the tropics it is usually humid and very warm or even hot. If one dresses lightly and stays in well ventilated environments, they can remain comfortable but so many humans have become conditioned to expect cool air indoors that they demand it without ever trying a well-ventilated environment. Try this experiment the next time you can be undisturbed indoors in a small room with the ability to control significant ventilation but no air con. Sit in the small room until you begin perspiring then turn on the fan. You will feel the moving air as refreshing and cooling. Do you really need aircon?

I’ve been living in the tropics almost 20 years now and I don’t use air con, Sure, if I visit a hotel room that has been sitting all day with no ventilation, I will blast the air con to bring the temperature to a reasonable level, but no more aircon as long as the ventilation controls include “Fan” only. Often, especially in the newer hotels there is no “Fan” selection and I will turn the ventilation OFF. Usually I find that the ventilation system leaks just enough refrigerated air to keep everything cool enough. I really feel sorry for those from the hot regions of the world where they live with air con perpetually. The house is airconditioned, including the garage. The drive to work in an air-conditioned car and they work in an air-conditioned office. OMG I would catch a cold for sure! I guess they get used to it.

The most absurd story I know reinforces the above statements. I first decided to open a small tropical resort based on simple natural living concepts in a beautiful paradise. My first effort was to open a facility where every building was designed to breath and every room had ceiling vents to allow the rising heat to escape and fans to always keep the air moving and refreshing. Europeans grasped this concept right away, but others rejected the idea before even trying it. My second resort step was to add aircon to every room and block the vents. This improved business significantly but early on I was annoyed by a guest that always had her air con on full blast. In the morning her windows were opaque from all the
condensation forming on the cold windows. At breakfast the woman approached me and told me she needed a blanket! I was speechless. Absolutely speechless.

Building codes have failed to address the heat in most tropical areas. In construction almost every new project intends to use air con, but the actual air-conditioning is little more than an afterthought. No requirements exist for proper insulation, E windows, roofing, building placement or any other effort to keep more cool air in the building for a longer
period of time. Of course, this scenario is the lowest cost method for the builder but the people that actually use the buildings for the next 25 – 40 years have large energy bills to pay each and every month. It does not have to be this way.

Design must decide early on between natural or aircon. To embrace the outside environment and let the building breath or just settle for refrigeration inside environment. For the reasons stated in the previous paragraph, most buildings are intended to be refrigerated. However, the building codes usually ignore this. Insulation is rare, thermal windows even more so. Construction tends to leave gaps and spaces where the warm air can enter freely, and cold air can escape. The building’s aspect to the sun is rarely considered. The solution for most buildings is powerful air conditioning to force the temperature down in the most inefficient manner imaginable. This can hardly be considered as any shade of green.

“Living” with bugs

Eco or green is not just about air conditioning. A huge problem? Yes, but not the whole picture. Toxic chemicals is another big part of the puzzle. The tropics is a wonderful environment for bugs: Insects, spiders, centipedes, ants, roaches and mosquitoes (the last three insects definitely deserve their own specific mention.) Bugs live long and reproduce quickly in the tropics. Tourists don’t like bugs so most resorts feel they must be bug free. This is typically achieved with chemical insecticides. Usually these poisons build up in the environment and eventually find their way into the ocean.

It does not have to be this way, but it is the easy way. I first learned the easy way and it was ugly. I don’t like mosquitoes so shortly after arriving in the tropics I bought a fogging machine and a few cases of expensive and highly toxic chemicals. The chemical fogging seemed effective on mosquito for a few months but gradually began to lose its punch. I called the chemical distributor and he said not to worry because he had a stronger chemical that would get the job done. He was right the stronger poison killed the mosquitos and after a few months I found myself buying yet an even stronger and more toxic chemical. It was then that I began to notice that the firefly population was much lower and soon the
same situation with the dragonfly and the butterfly. I was concerned but I kept blindly following the chemical path until I noticed a decline in the bird and lizard populations. It was then that I said, “stop, no more fogging chemicals!” Fortunately, it did not take long to see the beautiful bugs, birds and lizards return but the mosquitoes were back too, and I don’t like mosquitoes.

I lived with the mosquitos for almost a year before I discovered garlic. I read online that garlic could control mosquitoes. I experimented with it and it did not just control the mosquitos, but it wiped them out and never phased the butterflies, etc.. If even a speck of garlic oil would touch a mosquito, I would watch him drop to the ground and not get up. Wow! I was onto something. I built a press and ordered a ton of garlic and had the island mosquito free in a matter of days, it’s been 10 years now and we still spray garlic over every meter of the island. The firefly, dragon fly and butterfly are happy as with the lizards and birds. The cost is about the same, so I guess everyone wins (except the mosquitos). An extra
bonus is in keeping the birds and lizards healthy and hungry because they love eating all the other bugs that most people hate: roaches, centipedes, mosquitoes, and a host of others.

Ants are a difficult pest to beat but I have had some success there as well. There are many types of ants, but one classification is defined by diet: Carbohydrate or Protein. My greatest success is with the prolific carbohydrate ant. I mix borax soap powder with confectionary sugar powder and place little paper trays of this powder here and there for the ants. You see, ants have no mechanism to fart. The sugar attracts the ant to the treat. The Borax soap causes the ant’s body to produce gas. Once the ant eats, it is only a matter of time before the gas builds up inside the ant until he pops (dead).

Generally speaking, most pesty insects can be controlled organically with oil of the citrus peel. I’ve been experimenting with it and it works very well. It literally melts the ant’s exoskeleton The missing key to the puzzle is how to make it more than one gram at a time. I will let you know when I get it figured out.

The pesticide industry has solved all of these problems long ago but they have gone to far. The pesticides kill the bad and the good equally and there are many good beneficial insects that should not be killed. Study the environment around the next 5 star hotel you visit. You will probably not find a single insect near the building

Back to the main story here: How can a resort claim to be green because they put in some solar panels when all around the resort, they are dishing out toxic chemicals to kill insects.

So, the next time you are in a tropical resort who boasts of being green, look around for the firefly, dragonfly and butterfly. And don’t forget the lizards and birds? Do you hear a generator? Early in the morning, are there men with toxic spray equipment? What are they spraying?

NoaNoa Island does more than most but I would not dare to call myself green. Just the big twin engine catamaran speedboats for safe guest transport would be enough to disqualify myself from any claims of being green.

-Andy Bowers