Royal Resorts is getting ready to celebrate Earth Hour 2018 on March 24. On Saturday evening at 8:30 p.m., the lights will be dimmed for Earth Hour, the global WWF campaign to draw attention to the effects of climate change and the urgent need to protect the one thing that unites us all, the Planet. #EarthHour2018
Non-essential lights will be turned off around the resorts and members and guests are invited to join in by dimming the lights in their villas, attending special Earth Hour events and thinking about the ways in which they can help protect the planet. Here’s a look at our Earth Hour 2018 activities at The Royal Sands, The Royal Haciendas and Grand Residences by Royal Resorts.
The Royal Sands
On Earth Hour day, the restaurants and bars at The Royal Sands will not be using any disposable plastic cutlery, glasses, plates or polystyrene containers when serving food and drinks. The Activity Team will also be in the pool areas and on the beach inviting guests to write Earth Hour 2018 messages and pledges on a banner.
La Veranda restaurant will go back to nature for the evening with palm leaf, plant and flower decorations. Tasty natural dishes such as vegetable soup, antipasto and pastas will be served and there will be live marimba music.
At 8 p.m. the lights will be dimmed symbolically for 15 minutes, guests will be given a candle in a candle holder made from a recycled can and join staff in singing Heal the World. At 8:15 p.m., the Activities team will perform the Fire Dance.
The Royal Haciendas
Our Riviera Maya resort, The Royal Haciendas is celebrating 10 years of Earth Hour participation and has Earth Hour 2018 events on Friday and Saturday. Friday started with beach yoga and from 11 a.m. the Activity Team will be walking around the pool decks and the beach inviting guests to write their Earth Hour pledge, with the things they are going to do in their daily lives and workplace to protect the planet. Guests will put their pledges in a tombola and at 2:45 p.m. on the Phase I pool deck Activity staff will draw 10 of them at random. The guests that wrote the winning pledges will receive a souvenir 60+ Earth Hour t-shirt. When they return home they will post photos of the eco activities they pledged to do on the Royal Resorts Instagram page royalresorts with the Earth Hour hashtag and invite others to join them in protecting the environment.
On Saturday the Connect2Earth fun starts with popcorn and candy floss at 7 p.m. and at 7:35 p.m. there will be a show celebrating Earth Hour 2018. At 8:25 p.m. the countdown to Earth Hour begins and the lights are turned off.
Commemorative Earth Hour 2018 t-shirts will be on sale during the day at The Royal Haciendas with all proceeds going to the Royal Resorts Foundation community and conservation causes.
Grand Residences
In Puerto Morelos, Grand Residences by Royal Resorts is also participating in Earth Hour with its own program of activities. Special Earth Hour activities during the day include beach cleaning, beach yoga, arts and crafts activities, tree planting, a quiz, a bike tour and panda face painting for children. There will be a fire show at 7:30 p.m. on the pool deck before the lights are dimmed.
About Earth Hour
In 2017, 187 countries took part in Earth Hour and more than 3,000 of the world’s most famous landmarks were dimmed. Millions of people came together to take action, making pledges to protect the environment whether at home, in the workplace or in their communities. This year, organizers expect even more people and companies to take part in Earth Hour 2018.
#Connect2Earth #EarthHour2018
Royal Resorts protecting the planet
From watching over sea turtles during their summer nesting season to beach cleaning, trash recycling, energy and water conservation and switching to eco-friendly cleaning products, Royal Resorts is committed to protecting the environment. It has joined the global skip the straw movement – drinking straws are no longer given out in its restaurants and bars and it is also looking for more ways to reduce its use of plastics and chemicals.
Royal Resorts employees attend seminars and workshops during the year on conservation and the need to recycle, save water and electricity. They hold regular departmental meetings to discuss new ideas and implement additional eco-friendly policies and are passionately spreading the word about the need to protect the environment in their homes and communities. Royal Resorts even has its own Sustainability Team, a group of staff volunteers drawn from across the company that gives talks and workshops in the workplace on environmental and social responsibility topics.
The Royal Resorts Foundation is participating in a regional initiative coordinated by Cancun-based conservation NGO Amigos de Sian Ka’an and the Mexican National Forestry Commission (CONAFOR) to protect swathes of tropical forest in the state of Quintana Roo that are not currently protected by reserves. The goal of this campaign is to safeguard the Maya jungle and its wildlife and the network of underground rivers that lie deep below the forest floor. This immense aquifer is the only source of fresh water in the limestone landscape of the Yucatán Peninsula and it must be saved for future generations.
The Royal Resorts Foundation is raising money to support Amigos de Sian Ka’an’s work with rural communities, farmers and landholders in northern Quintana Roo to keep the forest instead of clearing it for development. They receive environmental services payments for leaving the land untouched. In addition to conserving the forest and the creatures that inhabit it, they will be helping to increase carbon capture and offset the effects of climate change.
The goal is to expand the environmental services program in the north and center of the state, linking larger areas of forest to the Sian Ka’an biosphere reserve and creating natural wildlife corridors for threatened species like the jaguar and puma.
Check this blog during the year for more news about eco-initiatives at Royal Resorts and Grand Residences.
