Grand Residences Protecting the Planet

On Saturday March 28 at 8:30 p.m., Grand Residences will be participating in Earth Hour, the global campaign organized by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature or World Wildlife Fund) to draw attention to climate change and biodiversity loss and the need to join forces to protect our planet.

Global warming is accelerating and is reaching tipping points that will have catastrophic consequences. According to the recent IPBES report up to one million species are threatened with extinction if we do not take urgent action. Seventy to ninety percent of the world’s coral reefs may die as a result of rapidly warming ocean temperatures, and another rich marine habitat, the kelp forest, is disappearing in many parts of the world. The ice caps and glaciers are melting and extreme weather events, drought, floods, crop failure are all becoming much more frequent.

Whether it is lobbying politicians and companies for more action on climate change to switching to eco-friendly products, planting trees, reducing our use of plastics and recycling, walking to work or car pooling, we can all help change the world. Earth Hour 2020 is a good moment to think about what you can do for the planet.

Guests are invited to join in the Earth Hour activities organized during the day. Activities will include arts and crafts and family activities such as a nature walk or tree planting to enjoy with your children. Finally at 8:30 p.m., non-essential lights will be turned off around the resort for one hour and we hope that guests will join us by dimming the lights in their suites.

In 2019, more than 180 countries took part in Earth Hour and the lights on close to 18,000 of the world’s most famous landmarks were dimmed. Millions of people came together to take action, making pledges to protect the environment, whether at home, in the workplace or in their communities.

Grand Residences green actions

At Grand Residences, we are doing what we can to reduce our environmental footprint and are reaffirming our commitment to a plastic-free planet. We now serve food in biodegradable food containers instead of polystyrene and our straws are made from avocado seeds and bamboo. We will only bring straws with drinks if guests expressly ask for one. And in order to reduce our consumption of single use plastic bottles of water we are now serving reusable jugs of purified water on the pool deck, the lobby and in other areas around the resort.

You can help us to save water, electricity and reduce our use of laundry products and the chemicals they contain by not requesting a change of bath towels every day. If you would like to join our resort campaign, leave your towels hanging up if you wish to use them again and put them on the floor if you would like new ones.

When you go on a beach walk why not help us keep the beach clean by taking a biodegradable bag with you to pick up trash? It’s a start for making our world a cleaner place. If you return your bag with trash, we’ll give you a coupon for a free drink.

Another way you can help us protect the environment is not to apply sun cream or oil if you are going to swim or snorkel in the sea or in the cenotes. Wear a t-shirt instead. Sun products contain chemicals that are harmful to corals and marine life.