In April I shared with you that Arabella Golf Mallorca is ceasing the sale of plastic water bottles and, instead, will provide players with reverse osmosis purified, mineralized water fountains (see picture above) that dispense both still and sparkling water.
Now Al Hamra Golf Club made a similarly wise decision to become the first golf club in the entire Middle East region to go fully plastic-free.
The golf course development owned by Al Hamra, Ras Al Khaimah’s premier developer, and managed by Troon International, has eliminated all single-use plastic items from its premises.
Al Hamra Golf Club introduced high-quality water filtration solutions across the premises.
The golf club has replaced all plastic water bottles with branded glass alternatives for members and guests to use.
These glass bottles will be cleaned, sterilized and refilled with the help of advanced environmentally friendly filtration units.
What could Al Hamra Golf Club do more for sustainability?
I think the leading golf resorts and golf clubs believe in a single-use plastic–free future. Here are some great examples around the world that golf clubs and resorts could implement easily for the sake of sustainability:
- Eliminate not just bottles, but cups, lids and other plastic items (e.g. tees). The Portuguese Quinta do Lago is offering plastic-free straws and packaging in our restaurants and hosting beach clean-ups at Q Beach.
- Use BPA free reusable bottles or cardboard packaging (see Lo Romero Golf Club example).
- Instead of plastic straw use paper, bamboo or lemongrass straws. Marriott Hotels will be eliminating plastic straws from its 6,500 hotels within 2020.
- Eliminate single-use shower toiletry bottles of shampoo, conditioner and bath gel in the clubhouse and in the guest rooms too. See Marriott’s example. Hyatt, IHG, and Hilton have got similar initiatives. In August, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) announced they will get rid of mini bottles of toiletries from their roughly 843,000 rooms. Mandarin Oriental has said it will cut all single-use plastics from its luxury hotels by March 2021.
- Start reducing what you don’t need & optimize what you have.
- Create a waste disposal system that converts trash to gas and compost.
- Offer environmental education (e.g. zero-waste workshops) for members and guests.
