Read any brochure for a cruise line and it seems excessive - a monstrous boat with all the amenities of home and more, from spa to gym & of course billowing smokestacks. Add some highly publicized incidents of offshore dumping, and you've got a floating environmental disaster! So what are cruise lines doing to clean up their act?
Green Getaways: Cruise Lines Clean Up Their Act
But is it enough?
Cruisecritic has a great list on some of the things cruise lines are doing to be more green. But is it enough? Or is it simple green washing.
A few highlights:
- Norwegian Cruise line has been recycling its cooking oil, as much as 40,000 gallons, donating the grease to an organic farmer in Miami, and Hawaii. Several ships in Holland America's and Princess' fleets use plugin power to reduce emissions and fuel usage.
- Carnival Cruise line offers on-board receptacles for recyclables, although international law allows disposal of some items at sea.
- Cunard Cruise line only purchases seafood from sustainable sources.
- Disney Cruise line has applied a more hydro efficient coating to one of its' ships, They Disney Wonder, that is also completely non-toxic and reduces surface resistance in the water.
- Lindblad Expeditions has partnered with the National Geographic Society to concentrates on extensive environmental research and offers learning cruises.
- Costa was the first cruise line to be awarded a Green Star notation (in 2005) for its entire fleet by RINA, Italy's Shipping Classification and Certification Agency. They also issue an annual sustainability report for their company.
For a truly green cruise, you might investigate a sailboat cruise, where the main power is that of the wind. Sadly, one of the larger companies to offer such a getaway, Windjammer Cruises, recently went out of business in 2007. Any recommendations?
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It's terrible that cruise lines are jumping on the green bandwagon while they continue to dump huge amounts of garbage into the oceans. There is no requirement that they store and dispose of trash properly when docked. Some do make small, well-publicized efforts effort to promote small-scale recycling programs, but the effects of those programs pale in comparison to how much they dump (under the cover of night, no less - no cruiser has to see tons of garbage trailing behind the ship).
The North Pacific Gyre is now the location of a huge swirling mass or garbage that reaches for hundreds of miles. Cruise lines shouldn't be able to play green while continuing to contribute to that monstrosity.
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I think the most important thing to do now is to set an hierarchy of green things to do for the cruise lines. Of course all these cruise lines can do much more that they already do but they also need general support to make things even better. Looking at the bright side I think this is a good start and the future will bring even better new.
Gordman, Alaska Cruises
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