How Plaza Beach & Dive Resort Bonaire is working towards a more sustainable future

Sustainability

Bonaire is an island that has everything to lose with poor choices. The reef offshore is among the best protected in the world, the salt lakes attract flamingos that are nowhere else so close, and the underwater world is the reason why divers keep coming back. This makes sustainability here not a marketing term but a logical necessity.

At Plaza Beach & Dive Resort Bonaire, we are seriously trying to fill this in. Not with big words, but with concrete choices in the rooms, the restaurant, the energy supply, and ties with the local community. In this article, we take you through everything we do, and why.

It starts in the rooms

Sustainability is most easily visible in the small things you use daily. In the rooms and suites of Plaza, we have invested significantly in systems that consume less without you noticing in comfort.

The traditional air conditioning has been replaced by more economical models that use ten to thirty percent less energy per room. They keep your room nice and cool but require one thing from you: turn off the air conditioning when you leave the room. That small gesture makes more of a difference than you think.

The same applies to lighting. LED lights are installed everywhere in the resort, in the restaurant, along the walkways, on the beach, and in the offices. In the hotel rooms alone, more than two thousand LED lights are burning. Where a traditional incandescent bulb uses forty watts, a LED does it with five. Per bulb, that might seem small, but with two thousand pieces, it adds up.

The most impressive improvement might be in the boilers. The old models used 3300 watts to heat 200 liters of water. The new heat pump boilers do the same with 800 watts and heat 300 liters instead of 200. They use the warm outside air and emit cold air that cools maintenance rooms. One boiler is enough to provide warm water to four Grand Suites.

Energy from the sun and the wind

Bonaire almost always has sun and almost always has wind. That combination is ideal for solar panels: the wind cools the panels, so they work more efficiently than in still air. Plaza has invested in new solar panels that will soon be installed, so a larger part of the resort's energy consumption comes directly from the sun.

Plaza is not alone in this. Within the Van der Valk group, solar panels are now installed at twenty hotels in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Bonaire adds a location with exceptionally good conditions.

What happens in the restaurant

In an all-inclusive resort where hundreds of guests eat daily, food waste is a serious issue. Leftovers after service are not thrown away but offered to local cattle farmers on the island. That is good for the farmers, good for the animals, and good for Bonaire.

At the Palm Beach bar, we serve drinks in hard, reusable glasses. No disposable plastic cups that can blow into the sea or be left on the beach. For soft drinks, we work as much as possible with post-mix bulk packaging to keep the number of cans and bottles to a minimum.

Waste that still occurs, we separate into glass, paper, and residual waste. There is no deposit scheme on Bonaire, but Plaza neatly returns empty beer crates from Zuila to the distributor so they can be reused.

Collaborating with the local community

Sustainability does not stop at the resort's borders. Plaza collaborates with various organizations on the island that are committed to nature and animal welfare.

STINAPA manages the Bonaire National Marine Park and Washington Slagbaai National Park and is responsible for protecting a large part of the island's nature. As a guest of Plaza, you can purchase a Nature Tag at Toucan Diving. This tag is mandatory for everyone who enters the water and directly contributes to the management of the marine park. Divers pay 45 dollars per person, snorkelers 25 dollars. The tag also provides free access to Washington Slagbaai National Park and is valid for the entire calendar year.

Fundashon Kunuku Kakelvers is a local animal shelter that is concerned with animal welfare on the island. Stray cats and dogs that roam the resort are picked up and brought to the shelter, where they receive the care they need. Plaza actively supports this organization and contributed to the opening of the cat shelter in 2016.

In addition, Plaza participates in beach clean-up actions on Bonaire, including clean-up days organized by IFAW ambassador Nicolette Kluijver. Because a clean beach is not only prettier, but it is also better for marine life right in front of our doorstep.

What you can do yourself

A sustainable stay is a shared responsibility. A few small habits can help a lot. Turn off the air conditioning when you leave the room. Refill your water bottle at one of the taps at the resort. Place only the towels that really need to be washed on the floor. Purchase a Nature Tag before entering the water. And turn off the tap while brushing your teeth.

These are small things, but on an island like Bonaire, every gesture counts.

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