Cinnamon Bay, a campground and resort located on Cinnamon Beach Bay on the island of St. John, announced its 10-year environmental plan to sustain and protect the property’s natural surroundings and ecosystem. The plan aims for challenging- yet-attainable goals for Cinnamon Bay and the neighboring Trunk Bay, which revolve around three priorities: to protect the beach, water quality and local coral reefs; reduce the resort’s carbon footprint; and reduce solid waste.
Measures to achieve the first of these goals have already been initiated; starting off the 10-year plan, a “Leave-No-Trace” campaign has been made effective immediately throughout the Cinnamon Bay and Trunk Bay grounds. The property has also shifted to providing exclusively reef-healthy sunscreens that do not contain oxybenzone, a chemical that bleaches reefs and damages ocean ecosystems. Cinnamon Bay has also increased its participation in the Reef Responsible Initiative; its restaurant is also currently undergoing certification to become a Reef Responsible Certified Restaurant.
In order to reduce the property’s carbon footprint, Cinnamon Bay has replaced all incandescent lights with LED lights across the resort. The resort has also entered into a partnership with Gift Hill School—a local Cruz Bay school—to produce compost for community gardens. The resort also has purchased EnergyStar rated equipment, which use less energy than federal standards require. To promote education on environmental issues and carbon footprint reduction, Cinnamon Bay has also started hosting a weekly guest speaker series focused on coral reef protection, biodiversity, ecological preservation and island wildlife.
To reduce solid waste, the resort has enacted several initiatives, among them a ban of Styrofoam across Cinnamon Bay and Trunk Bay. The on-property restaurants use biodegradable to-go containers and serve beer only on tap to eliminate non-recyclable glass.
Environmental plans for the decade to come include offering reduced rates and preferred booking to college groups hosting biology and environmental studies field trips at Cinnamon Bay. The resort also plans to install hydration stations in public areas to encourage reusable water bottles. Solar photovoltatic panels are also being installed across the property with the aim of generating more than 25 percent of the resort’s electricity from renewable energy.
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