Royal Caribbean commits to sustainability

When you think of cruises, you think of beautiful waters, fresh air and exotic destinations. But what people don’t tend to think about is the effect large cruise ships have on the pristine environments they’re traveling to.

However, Royal Caribbean has now committed to do that type of thinking for their passengers. The hospitality company has begun to convert all of their 42 ships, across five different brands, into sustainable, environmentally conscious vessels.

To do this Royal Caribbean has concentrated in three key areas. First, energy and air—each vessel has its own power plant on board, making efficiency a high priority. Over the last decade or so, Royal Caribbean worked to use 50% less energy per guest. Second, water—each boat purifies its water discharge before putting it off the boat. The company invested more than $100 million in this technology. And third, waste—Royal Caribbean estimates that each passenger produces 1.1 pounds of trash per day, which is about three pounds less than if they were to stay at home.

While such efforts often go unnoticed by traveling passengers, these are the type of steps that more companies should be taking to decrease their operational environmental impact and their carbon footprint. Because who wouldn’t want to go on a green vacation if they could?