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| Photo by Freeimages.com/oziris |
Costa Cruises recently presented the 10th edition of its sustainability report, “Sea You Tomorrow – On Course for the Future,” outlining the cruise line's major environmental achievements of 2015 and discussing goals for a greener future. Of the major accomplishments in 2015 were a 4.8 percent reduction in energy consumption, 100 percent of waste onboard collected and separated for disposal and recycling, and a 2.3 percent reduction in carbon footprint.
Other statistical improvements include a 3 percent decrease in fuel consumption per passenger per day as well as the installation of the ECO Exhaust Gas Cleaning system on nearly half of the fleet’s ships.
The cruise line has focused on the Italian town of Savona, partnering with the Whalesafe Life+ Project to protect sperm whales near of the port of Savona and in surrounding waters as well as with Italy’s National Consortium for the Recovery and Recycling of Aluminum. Costa, along with the Consortium, implemented a project titled “Message in a Can,” engaging with the citizens of Savona in the collection of aluminum.
One of the line's main plans for the future is the construction of the first cruise ships to be powered by the world’s cleanest burning fossil fuel, Liquefied Natural Gas. Construction for the project is already underway, with the ships expected to be complete in 2019 and 2021.
A highlight impacting passengers includes Costa’s partnership with the Università degli Studi delle Scienze Gastronomiche (UNISG) di Pollenzo, where the two groups are working together to review the cruise lines food service, with focuses on linking food to culture and tradition from Costa’s ports of call and to prioritize shipboard menus, basing them on seasonal availability of local produce.
“Sea You Tomorrow” can be downloaded from the sustainability section of the Costa Cruises website at www.costacruises.com/sustainability.