What is a sustainabile transition towards eco-tourism?
Hotel de Lindeboom, redesigned in 2002 is the first hotel on Texel with energy saving applications like a heat pump and presence detection connected with heating and lighting. In 2008 this representative was followed by Hotel Greenside. Besides a heat pump and presence detection, water saving showers, taps and energy saving central heating were added [1].
Restaurants and hotels on the island make use of ingredients grown on the island as much and often as possible. Those ingredients come from some interesting ecological local initiatives like dairy products and vegetables from Farm the Novalishoeve. All products from this farm are ecologic. Many restaurants get at least some of their ingredients from the Novalishoeve [2].
Texelse Brouwerij. The Texelse Brouwerij is a brewery that uses only ingredients from the island [3]. The water comes out of the dunes. The malt grows in the polders on Texel. The used barley, hops and yeast are all from the island. Many restaurants and bars serve this beer.
The Zelfpluktuin is another example of sustainable tourism. People can pick their own fruit, vegetables and flowers. The garden is ecological, this means for instance that no chemicals are used to keep mold away. A robot is designed to kill mold using UV . This promotes tourism, but mostly between June and October. It is also a great way to educate people on ecological farming. This form of eco-tourism does not mean that islanders should make compromises of any kind, so this is a great way of promoting sustainable tourism.[4].
Since start 2014 separating different sorts of waste has become important. The advantage is that less waste needs to be transported from the island if the useful part (for recycling) is filtered beforehand. Nowadays 50 percent of the island’s waste is separated, the aim is to separate 70 percent of the total amount by 2020 [5]. Tourists need to participate to in this process of separating waste.
Tourists can do ecological groceries at some of the “natuurwinkels” or the ecological supermarket called Ekoplaza. Ekoplaza sells products from local sources so that there is as less pollution from transport as possible. These products are all ecological [6].
Internet sources:
1: http://www.hotelgroeptexel.nl/duurzaam-ondernemen/
2: https://www.raphaelstichting.nl/novalishoeve/
3: http://www.texels.nl/nl/bieren/goudkoppe/
4: http://www.zelfpluktuin.nl/bezoeken.html
5: http://www.toerismekrant.nl/content/texel-wil-meer-afval-gescheiden-ophalen-ook-plastic-en-papier
6: http://www.ekoplaza.nl/over-ekoplaza/wat-is-biologisch/
