With Earth Day at hand, Club Med has announced a host of new initiatives that will continue to accelerate the resort company’s sustainability efforts designed to address the social and environmental challenges facing the global tourism industry.
Club Med says that since its conception in 1950, it has held “a strong belief that memorable experiences should never be lived at the expense of others or of nature.”
To that end, the brand’s core values have been defined as key pillars of sustainable tourism – building resorts that blend in harmoniously with nature, controlling water treatment and waste management, being vigilant with energy and water usage, and engaging in local solidarity.
New Social Responsibility Commitments (SRCs)
Embodying the brand’s core belief that their pioneering vision comes with the innate responsibility to respect the countries in which their resorts are located, as well as their communities, landscapes, and resources, Club Med is initiating will the following eco-conscious initiatives at their resorts across North America, the Caribbean, and Mexico:
• Beyond Meat: Beginning this month, Beyond Meat’s popular plant-based meat products, including the Beyond Burge® and Beyond Sausage, will be available to guests at the eco-chic Club Med Michès Playa Esmeralda, the first and only resort in the region of Miches, Dominican Republic. The delicious, nutritious, and sustainable protein options are expected to roll out across all of Club Med’s North American resorts by the end of 2022. According to a Life Cycle Analysis conducted by the University of Michigan, producing the original Beyond Burger uses 99% less water, 93% less land, 46% less energy, and generates 90% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than producing a 1/4 lb. US beef burger.
• Organic Composting: Grogenics and The Ocean Foundation, both with missions to conserve the diversity and abundance of marine life, are partnering with Club Med to address a myriad of concerns for coastal communities in the Caribbean – like sargassum. This year, they will pilot the first project of its kind in the Dominican Republic by harvesting sargassum from the beach of Club Med Michès Playa Esmeralda and reusing it for on-site composting and regenerative gardening. This organic compost, which sequesters carbon, will eventually be made available to local farms in the region as well.
• Renewable Energy Efforts: Following the 2019 installation of solar panels in Club Med Punta Cana to reduce energy consumption, a second deployment of solar panels will be installed later this year at Club Med Michès Playa Esmeralda.
• Bye-Bye Plastics: Following the company-wide commitment to reduce and eventually eliminate all single-use plastic products, all plastic water bottles in Club Med Cancún will gradually be replaced through 2022 with glass water bottles.
Responsible Vision
In 1978, the Club Med Foundation, one of the first corporate foundations to be created by a company, was developed to contribute to biodiversity preservation as well as improve the lives of children by supporting local schools, orphanages, and leisure programs for vulnerable youth. In 2019, Club Med launched the “Happy to Care” program, which features a range of commitments dedicated to responsible tourism and addresses an array of issues like eco-certifications, elimination of single-use plastics, energy management, food waste, animal welfare, cultural preservation, and local development. Initiatives enacted upon under this program include:
• Green Globe certification of all Club Med resorts in North America and the Caribbean; the new Club Med Québec will apply for certification later this year.
• The infrastructure of the brand’s two newest resorts, Club Med Michès Playa Esmeralda and Club Med Québec, are undergoing a series of assessments to earn their BREEAM certifications.
• Combatting food waste through the development of food waste programs, like a partnership with Solucycle at the new Club Med Québec, which converts organic waste into renewable energy sources.
• Prioritization of local sourcing like Club Med Québec, which sources 80% of its food products from Canada and 30% from farms within 62 miles of the resort, and Club Med Michès Playa Esmeralda, which sources coffee, cacao, and produce from local farms.
• Protecting endangered species and supporting biodiversity preservation through environmental partnerships with companies like the Turks & Caicos Reef Fund, The Florida Oceanographic Society, the Peregrine Fund, and SEMARNAT (The Mexican Secretary for Environment and Natural Resources).
• Creating the Club Med RecycleWear collection, a staff uniform as well as boutique product made from recycled plastic, which has recycled over 2 million plastic water bottles since its deployment in 2019.
• Club Med is a founding member of PROMICHES, the hotel and tourism association of Miches El Seibo dedicated to the region’s sustainable development.
Looking Ahead
Club Med’s North American resorts will continue to see more ecological menu options featuring plant-based proteins and an increase in both local and organic products. Club Med North America has also set an objective to source 100% fair trade coffee by 2023 and 100% cage-free eggs by 2025.