There are many individuals and businesses in Curacao that are taking concrete steps to take care of our environment and be more sustainable. For this very first Gladys van Dal Mc Kenzie Award, Selikor has the pleasure to put 3 of these companies in the spotlight for their sustainability efforts. It wasn’t easy choosing only 3 businesses, because there are so many positive environmental initiatives in Curacao that are worthy of receiving this award.
Mondi Lodge
The first recipient of the Gladys van Daal Mc Kenzie Award is: Mondi Lodge
Mondi Lodge is an environmentally friendly ecolodge. Their buildings are not typical, that is, made of concrete, but are made of wood and their roofs are made of palm branches, “palapa” style. Not one single tree was cut down on their property during construction, something that Gladys would be very happy to know!
Much of their furniture and decorations are made from driftwood or recycled wooden pallets. They grow some of their own food & vegetables and they have their own chickens to provide their guests with super fresh organic eggs. They feed their animals the left-over food and they reuse the wastewater from their septic tanks to water their plants. The cleaning products they use are natural and made right here in Curacao.
They really are a good example of sustainable tourism that other lodges, hotels and resorts should follow.
The Triangle Curacao
The second recipient of the Gladys van Daal Mc Kenzie Award is: The Triangle Curacao!
The Triangle is a multi-functional office building. When the owners decided to restore an existing monument and construct a new office building in Otrobanda, they designed the buildings to be environmental and energy efficient. They insulated the buildings and installed a special type of glass to keep cool air inside and keep the heat outside. The Triangle has installed solar panels, all their air conditioners use energy efficient inverter technology and they have LED lighting. They also conserve water by collecting rainwater in a cistern and use this to irrigate their plants. The Triangle also prevents waste from being generated by not using disposables in their cantine and they collect paper, plastic and aluminum cans for recycling.
The Triangle has shown that by considering the environment during the design or renovation of a building, you can create workspaces that are more sustainable
Dynaf Caribbean
And the third & final recipient of this year’s Gladys van Dal Mc Kenzie Award is: Dynaf Caribbean!
Dynaf knows that 40% of all energy is used by buildings, so they’re a company that provides energy solutions for their clients to help them generate and save energy. But they also lead by example. Their own building, just down the road from here, is completely energy self-sufficient. Dynaf doesn’t use electricity from Aqualectra. They have installed many solar panels and have batteries that store energy to use when the sun is not shining. Of course, if you’re going to be completely energy self-sufficient, your building also has to be energy efficient, so Dynaf insulated their building’s roof and windows. Their air conditioning system and their lights are all on timers. And of course, they recycle too: waste oils, plastic and aluminum. We all need to reduce our carbon footprint to prevent climate change and Dynaf can show other companies how they can also achieve this.
