Klean Kanteen 27oz Stainless Steel Drink Bottle
Klean Kanteen is a family business that started producing their first products in 2004. Their desire was to product a drink bottle that was environmentally friendly and also free of toxins making it a win win for the bottle owner. Anyone with a slight interest in the environment knows that it takes about four litres of water to produce one litre of bottled water for drinking so any time the containers can be reused the better it is for the environment. Problem is that the plastic water bottles, even thought they can be recycled, contain toxins such as BPA that are slowly released from the bottles. The Klean Kanteen people came up with the solution.
The Klean Kanteen Stainless Steel drink bottles are made from 18/8 food grade stainless steel and don’t contain any plastic threads or liners. Other brands have recently admitted that the liners they use in their aluminium bottles contained BPA. Kind of defeats the purpose a bit. The Klean Kanteen bottles don’t and you have the option of a BPA free polypropylene or stainless steel cap. The seals are toxin-free silicone. The bottles are safe for most liquids and because nothing leached from the bottle to the liquid, the falours are not affected. A range of colours, styles of caps and a wide mouth opening make these the ideal choice.
Further details and to buy online head to Klean Kanteen from Amazon.
Urbn Hotels – Shanghai, China
Ever walked into a hotel lobby or room and immediately need to put on another layer of clothing because the room is only a few degrees above freezing? Kind of defeats the purpose of those little notes in the bathroom about caring for the environment and reuse the towels if possible. URBN Hotels and resorts takes a different approach to the concept of an environmentally friendly hotel. They have a boutique hotel in Shanghai, not known for having the freshest air quality in the world. If you like modern architecture then you will like the interiors.
A few things they do to reduce thier impact is to partner with Emissions Zero (www.emissionszero.com) to offset all the carbon emissions from operating the hotel, their employees commuting to work and food and beverage delivery. Guests can also opt to offset their emissions from flights if they choose. URBN Hotel is China’s first carbon neutral hotel. they also provide six square metres of green space per hotel guest, have solar shading and energy efficient heating and cooling.
Another thing that makes them different is when building the hotel the renovated the existing structure rather than tear it down and start from scratch. Reclaimed Shanghai hardwoods and old Shanghai bricks were also utilised. This was inline with the idea to source locally made materials and thus reduce the need for transport and the associated emissions. Of course there is also low energy lighting, low VOC paints and double pane windows to aid with insulation.
See more at URBN Hotels.
Guludo Beach Lodge – Mozambique
There is so much to write about the Guludo Beach Lodge that it will be difficult to pull out just a few facts. It was created by a young English couple who realised tourism could be about helping the local communities work their way out of poverty. From day one they worked with the locals to create and operate the resort.
The resort was designed so as to have a low impact on the environment, help the locals by teaching building skills, generate as little waste as possible and utilise the local materials. They even have an environmental policy that lists 12 rules they must follow.
Whilst fairtrade is usually associated with products, they have applied it to tourism. Actually it is similar. Fair wages, employ locals where possible, safe working environment and helping locals to sell their wares to the visitors.
Finally there is the Nema Foundation that was established by the owners and helps to improve the living standards, health, schooling and more. Five percent of the revenue from the parent company that owns the resort is donated.
You really need to check out even more about this resort at the Guludo Beach Resort website.
