Is Plastic-free Travel Hard to Promote? Four “Ecofriendly Lodges” in Liuqiu received their seals

In recent years, Liuqiu, Pingtung has experienced a rush of tourism. The island already has more than 400 bed and breakfasts. In order to reduce the load on the environment by tourists, some bed and breakfast owners have proactively responded to the Environmental Protection Administration’s promotion of the eco-lodge authentication seal. After ‘True FDs-iNN Liu Qi’ and ‘Ocean Hotel in Small Liuqiu” received the silver and bronze seals, respectively, ‘How Young’ and ‘BC Sand’ have now also received the silver and bronze seals, respectively. The County Environmental Protection Bureau said that all four Pingtung recipients are located in Liuqiu, the high density off-shore island region. Green travel also gives the tourism brand an edge.
“The ‘Customers First’ service ideal has been difficult to promote,” the general marketing officer of the County Environmental Protection Bureau, Lin Ruei Juan, explained. The requirement for applying for eco-friendly hotel seals includes not only not providing one-time use apparatus but also having environment management, energy and water saving measures, and waste reduction all up to code. Those who pass the audit and inspection receive different grades of environmental protection certification seals. The certification is held once every three years. The program is particularly hard to promote to large hotels. However, once the trend catches on as it has in Liuqiu, the pace will pick up. Many other resort hotels and bed and breakfasts are already interested in applying.
The husband and wife owners of ‘How Young,’ which has gone up a grade to receive the silver seal, have become devoted ocean volunteers. They are located in an old building infused with a warm, colorful, and vibrant interior. They promote using eco-certified utensils, energy and water saving facilities, repeat-use containers for food, and no one-time use toiletries, to achieve green living. They hope that their customers can enjoy a wonderful trip in Liuqiu. The space in ‘BC Sand’ is filled with rich shells. They joined the eco-friendly lodges camp by starting this year to no longer provide one-time use toiletries.

News source：https://ubrand.udn.com/ubrand/story/12116/5109692