Celebrating Earth Day 2021 with Six Senses
April 22, 2021 by Laura Fishman
Every day is Earth Day at Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas. Built on the three pillars of sustainability, wellness and out of the ordinary experiences, Six Senses is all about innovation, and is a pioneer in doing things differently to protect our planet while teaching our youngest explorers to be curious about our ecosystem and prepare them to become future custodians of our world.
Sustainability is never seen as a sacrifice, but more a way of life. In fact, they believe sustainability and luxury can happily coexist, as “only in balance can we thrive” – which is at the core of their ethos. Their list of eco-friendly accomplishments is long and impressive. They stopped using plastic straws in 2016 and aim to be plastic-free by 2022. They’re well on their way: each property bottles its own water in glass bottles. All of their new properties aim for LEED Silver certification.
Connecting to their local communities, Six Senses employs and sources locally. Eat With Six Senses, is a health and wellness program with customized experiences at each of their properties which focuses on natural ingredients, local food production and sustainability. Each property has an organic garden, which provides the resort’s kitchens with fresh herbs, vegetables and fruits as well as a range of ingredients for the spas and their customized Alchemy Bars.
Investing in the future stewards of our planet, Grow With Six Senses incorporates the six dimensions of wellness (social, environmental, physical, spiritual, emotional and intellectual) so children can reconnect with nature and gain useful life skills through play. Grow With Six Senses allows children to take a break from their screens and do something real and tangible. Nature-based learning includes visits to Six Senses garden to learn where your food comes from and roll up your sleeves and get dirty. For children in local communities, particularly in orphanages, Six Senses partners with Public Health Experts to run educational programming in schools.
Each Six Senses property offers an Earth Lab to engage guests on their sustainability initiatives through education and provides ways to get involved. By uplifting their local communities and environments, Six Senses also created a Sustainability Fund to help invest in projects outside of the property while their Connecting with Others provides water stations and new ways for guests to experience local communities as partners.
While Six Senses expands its brand footprint even more with openings at Six Senses Botanique in Brazil, Six Senses Ibiza in Spain, Six Senses Shaharut in Israel and Six Senses Fort Barwara in India, sustainability will still be deeply rooted in all of their properties. It is a pleasure to share highlights from their global collection.
Six Senses Ibiza
Spain
Six Senses Ibiza is making its grand-debut in Spain’s sun-kissed Balearic Islands in July 2021. Living in harmony with the crystalline Cala Xarraca, this spiritual wellness oasis built a Deep Sea Cooling System to cool its 116 guest accommodations, townhouses, pool suites and beachfront caves, restaurants and common spaces reducing its carbon emissions by 40 percent.
Six Senses Botanique
Brazil
Tucked away on 700 acres in Brazil’s Mantiqueira region amid towering Araucaria pine forests, Six Senses Botanique is a lush tropical oasis just a 2.5-hour drive from São Paulo. Each of the design elements has been thoughtfully chosen to respect the region’s topography, native traditions, art and contemporary culture to reconnect guests with nature and its serene natural surroundings.
Six Senses Shaharut
Israel
Nestled in Israel’s vast and ancient Negev Desert, Six Senses Shaharut imbues a Biblical heritage set in an authentic desert experience for its guests. The resort is committed to elevating the standard of care for camels at their stables and grooming area, which are essential to nomadic bedouin culture. Six Senses Shaharut is celebrating its grand opening on August 5, 2o21.
Six Senses Fort Barwara
India
Step back in time to a begone era dating back 700 years to experience Six Senses Fort Barwara in Rajasthan, India. This beautiful 14th century fort was once owned by the Rajasthani Royal Family and faces the Chauth ka Barwara Mandir temple. The property is working with the local community to rewild the forests to the east and revive the sacred lake to its former glory. Six Senses Fort Barwara is set to open September 2021.
Six Senses Bhutan
The five Six Senses Bhutan lodges have been thoughtfully designed to fully immerse travelers in the Kingdom of Bhutan’s natural beauty and culture, offering a contemporary take on traditional Bhutanese architecture and form. The lodges, which vary in style from valley to valley, showcase the diversity and special character of each location in Thimphu, Punkakha, Paro, Gangtey and Bumthang.
Six Senses Laamu
Maldives
The Maldives is a paradise on earth, with fluffy white sand, clear, warm waters and coral reefs that buzz with life. Six Senses Laamu goes the extra mile to protect their atoll and beyond. Their work has not gone unnoticed. Six Senses Laamu was awarded “Leading Eco Resort” at the Maldives Travel Awards 2019 and “Best for Wildlife & Nature Conservation” at the World Tourism Market (WTM) World Responsible Tourism Awards 2019. Why? They work towards zero-waste operations, promote plastic-free living in the local community, protect the sea grass and so much more. Six Senses Laamu and their partners have proudly launched the Maldives Underwater Initiative (MUI) website, which shares incredible stories about their latest marine conservation initiatives.
Six Senses Krabey Island
Cambodia
During the pandemic, Six Senses Krabey Island actively supported Ream Primary School during the pandemic, particularly with clean water and hand washing stations. They also kicked off their first session of Project Environment, a wonderful monthly workshop to teach Cambodian children at the M’Lop Tapang’s Transitional Home about sustainability, organic agriculture and local wildlife. Their Guest Experience Managers can also arrange tours at nearby farms and cooking classes in Khmer cuisine.
Six Senses Ninh Van Bay
Vietnam
Six Senses Ninh Van Bay in Vietnam is helping to protect the critically endangered, black-shanked douc Langur population. In collaboration with the NGO GreenViet, biologists have identified 106 langurs around their resort.
Six Senses Yao Noi
Thailand
Six Senses Yao Noi introduces the Junior Eco Warrior program, designed around the brand’s sustainability ethos for budding conservationists. Opening doors to the fun and exciting world of sustainability, this three-day program aims to educate future change makers on the resort’s sustainable practices through hands-on experiences and outdoor adventures. The resort is in the perfect green setting tucked away amongst the lush surroundings of Phangnga, Thailand.
Six Senses Con Dao
Vietnam
Six Senses Con Dao in Vietnam is home to endangered Green Turtles (Chelonia Mydas) set on a remote island known for its pristine and protected national and marine park. Guests can marvel at the experience of Green Turtle hatchlings venturing down the beach into the wide and free waters of the ocean. The resort is proud custodians and trained Hosts to care for the eggs before releasing the hatchlings.
Six Senses Fiji
Fiji is a heavenly tropical paradise and home to 39 endangered Fijian Crested Iguanas. Utilizing their Sustainability Fund, Six Senses Fiji has planted trees at their nearby Iguana Reserve to help expand their habitat located on Malolo Island. At night fall, guests are guided on an adventure to spot the rare iguanas underneath the star-lit sky.
Six Senses Douro Valley
Portugal
Set in Portugal’s famed wine region and UNESCO World Heritage Site, Six Senses Douro Valley is deeply connected to the soil to become its guardians by adopting 1,6400 sq. foot stretch of the riverbank. It has a beautiful Earth Lab and organic garden where it hosts BBQ dinner experiences for their guests and can learn how to garden and compost. From their garden, the herbs are harvested and go to the Earth Lab where they hang the herbs and dry them which are used for spa products and Alchemy Bar to make your own scrubs and products. Six Senses Douro Valley even creates its own pesticide with these herbs.
Six Senses Zighy Bay
Oman
In celebration of Earth Day, Six Senses Zighy Bay launched their Carbon Neutral rate – the first of its kind in the Middle East – which their environmentally-conscious guests will be able to book on our website. The resort partnered with Co2nsensus, a British company that works on measuring and offsetting the carbon emissions produced from hotel stays. After calculating the amount of carbon produced per guest per night, the Six Senses Zighy Bay will donate $10 per room night to a Wind Power plant-based in Balıkesir, Turkey.
Although 2020 was challenging for tourism, collectively Six Senses achieved its sustainability targets once collectively with commitment of its hosts, their families, local community partners, and guests too. Below are highlights achieved from 2020:
2020 Impacts Outside the Property (Community):
- More than 17,000 local community members, hosts and their families supported positive impact events, with an extra 4,317 guests helping out.
- In fact, hosts dedicated around 2,000 hours to volunteering in their local communities.
- Passing the legacy on to younger generations, 4,195 local people gained access to education and skills training.
- Installing water filters meant 111,385 people received clean drinking water and sanitation.
- A further 536,240 people benefited from improved access to healthcare programs and provision of medical equipment.
2020 Impacts Outside the Property (Environment):
- Going beyond protection into habitat restoration, 26 hectares (260,555 square meters) of habitat is now secure, which is enough to cover 36 soccer pitches.
- This includes planting coral (820 fragments), protecting turtle eggs (2,792 hatchlings) and measuring the increase in target wildlife species (675).
2020 Impacts Inside the Property:
From candles to cleaning solutions, sustainability is the byword for every department in every resort. Farm-to-table initiatives encompass the organic kitchen gardens, farms and mushroom huts and water is produced on site. Six Senses works with local suppliers to eliminate the use of plastic packaging and food miles and its circular economy approach encompasses the “6 Rs”: rethink, responsible, respect, refuse, reuse and recycle.
- Renewable electricity generated exceeded 370,788 kWh, enough to power 15 World Cup soccer matches.
- 617,102 glass bottles of home-produced water were given to guests.
- 88,724 organic eggs were served in restaurants along with 195,602 pounds.
- (88,724 kilograms) of organic vegetables (roughly the weight of 51 camels).
- 134,082 pounds (60,819 kilograms) of compost was produced to enrich the soil.
Relief Efforts:
Even when the properties were closed last year, Six Senses properties were very supportive of local efforts to relieve the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, for example by donating food 4,731 pounds (2,146 kilograms), and supplies (benefiting 3,515 people), and volunteering their time (1,500 hours and counting).
Aerial view of Félicité Island at Six Senses Zil Pasyon
Contact our team at mail@hiddendoorwaystravel.com if you would like to learn more about Six Senses global portfolio and the extraordinary sustainability initiatives each property offers their guests.
