MIAMI, Sept. 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In Italy,
kids are eating delicious and nutritious meals that were once
surplus food prepared onboard ships for cruise passengers. In
Miami, families in need are
sleeping in comfortable beds with frames donated by cruise lines.
At sea, cruise ships are assisting with ocean research and
implementing and supporting recycling practices.
As a result of those and similar efforts, the cruise industry –
including Carnival Corporation, the world's largest leisure travel
company – is demonstrating its commitment to the environment and
overall sustainability.
Said Bill Burke, chief maritime
officer for Carnival Corporation: "We all understand a healthy
environment is not just an operating necessity, but it is also the
right thing to do."
To that end, Carnival Corporation recently released its 2016
sustainability report, Sustainability from Ship to Shore,
which is available at a dedicated website:
http://carnivalsustainability.com.
The report covers how the company, with its 10 global brands,
has made tangible strides toward its 2020 sustainability
performance goals—and is even ahead of schedule in achieving a
nearly 25 percent reduction in CO2 emissions (equivalent carbon
dioxide) relative to the 2005 baseline. The company is also on
track to meet its additional sustainability goals during the next
three years.
Below is a brief rundown of how cruise line brands are making
the environment and sustainability a priority:
Emissions, energy conservation and encouraging
recycling
Carnival Corporation is a pioneer in the use of LNG (liquefied
natural gas), the world's cleanest burning fossil fuel, and in 2016
introduced the first cruise ship ever fueled with LNG from trucks
while in port, AIDA Cruises' AIDAPrima. The company has agreements
in place to build seven fully LNG-powered cruise ships across four
of its brands in coming years, the first debuting for AIDA Cruises
and Italian brand Costa Cruises in 2019.
In terms of the existing fleet, the company is continuing
installation of Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS), which
significantly reduce sulfur compounds and particulate matter from
ship engine exhaust.
Recycling and reducing energy use are a way of life on Carnival
Corporation's fleet, the largest in the cruise industry with 103
ships traveling to more than 760 ports around the world. For some
time guests have been encouraged to pitch in by turning off lights,
using recycling bins and reusing towels (to cut down on water
consumption from the laundry).
Holland America Line, as an
example, has moved to LED lighting as much as possible to save
energy. On the lines' newer ships such as the ms Koningsdam, guests
use a keycard to turn on cabin lights when they enter, and on all
ships, crew are instructed (and guests are encouraged with signage)
to turn off lights when leaving rooms.
The line has installed new software to regulate air
conditioning, turning off zones that are not occupied to save
energy – such as in a show lounge during the day. And in
staterooms, soap, shampoo and hair conditioner dispensers in
showers provide an environmentally friendly alternative to small,
individual bottles.
Princess Cruises is among cruise lines that have redesigned
their food, supply-purchasing and packaging requirements to cut
down on plastic items onboard. For example, laundry bags have been
switched from plastic to paper that can be recycled or
incinerated.
Carnival Corporation ships recycle everything from cardboard,
plastic, aluminum and glass to cooking oil.
To get crew members excited about recycling, Carnival Cruise
Line runs an incentive program across its 25-ship fleet.
Each month, shipboard environmental teams compete to achieve the
highest month-over-month increase in recycling volume, with those
from the winning ship recognized within the company. Carnival
Cruise Line also hosted an Environmental/Sustainability Fair at its
headquarters in Miami last year
and unveiled electric vehicle charging stations for its employees
on World Oceans Day this past June.
Guests are encouraged to get involved in shipboard recycling
programs by disposing of materials in specially marked containers
for glass, paper, aluminum and other products, which helps
facilitate sorting and recovery.
Feeding those in need on land
Among the unique new approaches by Carnival Corporation brands
is a ship-to-shore food program in Italy. The country has a law, established last
year, that encourages donations of surplus food. Costa Cruises
worked for eight months with the food bank program Fondazione Banco
Alimentare ONLUS and key stakeholders, such as the Customs Agency
and the Maritime Health Organization Agency, to design the
blueprint to be used in the maritime sector. The sea-going food
surplus salvage program – a first in the cruise industry – launched
in July.
On the line's flagship, Costa Diadema, which sails weekly
year-round in the Mediterranean, surplus dishes that are prepared
but go unordered by guests are collected and placed in special
aluminum containers that are sealed and labeled to ensure that they
can be traced, and stored in the refrigerators on board.
Every Saturday when the ship is in its homeport of Savona,
Italy, volunteers from Fondazione
L'Ancora download and bring the food to the nearby town of Varazze,
where the organization runs a home for 20 children, and provides
food aid to over 280 people in need, including refugees.
Costa Cruises would like to expand the program to more ships in
more ports in Italy and the
Mediterranean, said Neil Palomba,
president of Costa Cruises.
Assisting with oceanographic research
When you're sitting on the pool deck, relaxing and looking out
to sea, you may not realize you are helping with oceanographic
research. But that may be the case.
Carnival Cruise Line, Carnival Corporation's namesake brand and
the world's largest individual cruise line, has an alliance with
the International SeaKeepers Society and has installed scientific
data-gathering devices on several ships, including Carnival
Triumph, Carnival Legend, Carnival Miracle and Carnival Spirit, to
monitor ocean water quality.
The device on each ship tracks a wide range of data, which is
transmitted via satellite to various environmental groups,
governmental agencies and universities to aid in assessing ocean
pollution and researching global climate changes and cyclic weather
patterns.
The brand's Carnival Conquest has been recognized by the
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) with
the Voluntary Observing Ship Award, for its efforts in helping
monitor and collect data on Caribbean weather conditions.
Carnival Corporation's Costa Cruises has a partnership with
Italy's Centro Nazionale di
Ricerche (National Research Center).
Last year, a team of researchers from the Italian National
Research Council's Institute of Marine Sciences in Ancona spent a
week on board the Costa Luminosa to record the presence of sea
turtles, dolphins and seabirds, while also monitoring the amount of
plastic debris in the sea.
Carnival Corporation also supports efforts by The Nature
Conservancy (TNC), one of the world's leading conservation
organizations, with a $2.5 million
financial commitment supporting marine conservation through
projects using the latest crowdsourcing and data mapping techniques
to quantify and total the local economic value of the world's coral
reefs to tourism.
Providing volunteering opportunities
Carnival Corporation's Fathom experiences deepen human
connections in the world, and encourage guests to have a positive
impact on local communities.
Guests to Amber Cove in
Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic have participated in
various local experiences and projects including reforestation. In
2016, guests planted 21,000 seeds in nurseries and transplanted
10,000 native tree seedlings from nurseries into Dominican soil.
These efforts will eventually lead to more nutrient-rich soil, a
reduction in soil loss, and improved air and water
quality.
Fathom human connections experiences, onboard and onshore, are
currently in the process of being expanded.
Carnival Corporation brands also encourage volunteering among
their crew and employees.
For instance, Costa Group has a new partnership with Mercy Ships
in West Africa, which includes
opportunities for employees and crew to help out onboard Mercy
hospital ships. Recently, a 28-year-old AIDA Cruises engineer
volunteered his services on the Africa Mercy, supporting the ship's
staff and sharing his seafaring experiences. The Africa Mercy
provides free surgeries and dental care to patients in need.
Creating safe drinking water
Guests volunteering with Fathom also produced more than 900
water filters, providing more than 4,000 Dominicans with safe
drinking water, in an ongoing project.
Separately, under the P&O Pacific Partnership with Save the
Children Australia, funded with a $1AUD donation by passengers on
each booking, P&O Cruises Australia has commissioned the
installation later this year of two clean water filters in
Vanuatu – for Mystery Island and
the nearby island Aneityum, where the local community primarily
resides.
Promoting local entrepreneurship and building skills
In the UK, the venerable Cunard line has an ongoing relationship
with the Prince's Trust, and as part of the partnership the human
resources department of Carnival UK, which includes P&O
Cruises, takes part in a program where 16- to 25-year-olds have
opportunities to practice their presentation and interview skills –
to help improve their employment and educational prospects.
Staff from the human resources department run mock interviews
for a "position." At the end of each team session, young
participants are recognized for their achievements at a special
ceremony.
Preserving history and culture
Ultra-luxury brand Seabourn has an ongoing partnership with The
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) to encourage world heritage protection and sustainable
tourism.
The goal is to foster wider support and understanding in the
travel industry and among travelers for UNESCO's mission of
identifying, safeguarding and promoting World Heritage sites. The
partnership consists of a $1 million
commitment from Seabourn. Shore excursions to World Heritage sites
in more than 170 ports and in-depth Discovery Tours include a
donation from guest excursion fees to the UNESCO World Heritage
Fund.
Donating used goods
Among the commitments of Carnival Corporation brands are reusing
materials and equipment either onboard or donating items in good
condition to others.
When replacing chairs on a ship in San
Diego, Holland America Line, for example, donated chairs to
a local group that needed them for an auditorium. The cruise line
also recently donated 100 TVs, three grand pianos and 20 laptops to
organizations in Florida. In
Vietnam, schools, churches and
temples received a donation of 680 upholstered footstools. Blankets
and towels are among other items that the line frequently donates
to nonprofits in port communities.
Likewise, Carnival Cruise Line donates a variety of used,
serviceable goods such as furniture, refrigerators, bed frames,
cribs, toys, shower curtains and utensils.
Some of the organizations receiving donations include the
Bahamas Children's Emergency Hostel in Nassau, Bahamas; Black Mountain Home in
Charleston, South Carolina; Bridge
House in New Orleans; Cockburn
Town Medical Center in Grand Turk Island, Turks and Caicos; St.
Christopher Children's Home in St.
Lucia; and the Salvation Army in Galveston, Texas.
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SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc