In a bold step towards sustainability, Alma Resort Cam Ranh is nearing completion of what is set to become Vietnam’s most significant solar power project in the hospitality sector. Spanning 30 hectares of pristine beachfront, Alma is installing 4,476 solar panels across the rooftops of its 196 pavilions, two iconic V-shaped towers with 384 suites, the lobby lounge, and utility buildings. Covering 23,290 square meters, the panels will generate up to 2,462 kilowatts peak — providing between 25% and 30% of the resort’s total energy needs, depending on seasonal occupancy. A Major Step in Sustainable Energy The project is projected to save Alma Resort USD 7.2 million in electricity costs over the next 25 years, while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 65,000 tonnes in the same period. Managing Director Herbert Laubichler-Pichler describes it as a landmark initiative for Vietnam’s luxury hotel sector, highlighting Cam Ranh’s 300+ sunny days a year as the perfect environment for solar energy. Vietnam’s Solar Power Leader Vietnam has rapidly become Southeast Asia’s solar powerhouse, thanks to favorable government incentives and strong private investment. Alma’s project underscores how luxury resorts can integrate renewable energy while setting an example for sustainable tourism in the region. Beyond Solar: Alma’s Green Commitments The solar power initiative is only one part of Alma’s broader environmental mission. The resort operates a series of eco-friendly programs, including: Onsite Herb and Nursery Gardens and a Chicken Farm, providing fresh organic produce and eggs for its restaurants. A reverse osmosis water treatment plant that supplies 70,000 liters of drinking water and ice weekly, cutting reliance on plastic bottles. A recycling-focused garbage room that processes around 250 kg of waste daily, including composting and reselling used cooking oil for recycling. A fleet of 36 electric buggies powered at a dedicated charging station, promoting cleaner in-resort transport. Staff engagement in sustainability efforts is central, ensuring that Alma’s eco-initiatives extend well beyond infrastructure. The Future of Green Hospitality in Vietnam As Vietnam positions itself as a leading solar energy hub in Southeast Asia, Alma Resort Cam Ranh’s pioneering efforts represent the future of responsible tourism. By investing in renewable energy and eco-conscious practices, the resort not only reduces its footprint but also inspires others in the hospitality industry to follow suit. For more information or to make a booking, visit alma-resort.com, call +84 258 399 1666 or email info@alma-resort.com

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As eco-initiatives evolve, going plastic-free is the minimum a resort can do to lighten its environmental impact. Avana Retreat, situated amid the mountains of Vietnam’s Mai Chau province, has been making sure its footprint is featherweight since debuting in the pandemic. Through extreme tree planting projects, cultural initiatives to maintain ethnic minority traditions, organic farming, neighbourhood trash collecting partnerships with youth groups, and turning one of its star attractions – terraced rice fields – into a source of income for the community, Avana is working in unison with the environment. As for plastic, you won’t find a bottle or single-use bag in sight. The property even has its own purifying and bottling facility on-site, which uses fresh mountain water and cuts CO2 emissions. Reforestation and building biodiversity “There is a Vietnamese saying ‘Where there is good land, the birds will come and settle’,” said Mr. Vu Huy, founder of Avana Retreat. “We have planted over 10,000 trees in the area since we started developing this land and the bird life, well, we’re seeing more and more return. In fact, the wildlife has flourished.” Avana Retreat has prioritised re-foresting and working with the existing landscape. Raised pathways weave a way to both the spa and waterfall in an attempt to limit existing tree-cutting. The electric buggy and walking paths are purposefully narrow so that the impact on the vegetation is minimised. The terraced rice paddies, within the resort grounds, are also not just for decoration. For generations, the Hmong people have been cultivating the land to grow rice. Avana Retreat’s rice terraces are maintained by local ethnic groups who keep all the rice they harvest at Avana to eat or sell as they wish. This method of rice farming is a long-standing tradition, a cultural practice that has endured over time, and is one of the many aspects of the ethnic groups of the region that Avana Retreat shares with guests. Helping local culture and economic livelihoods flourish The property’s museum, housed in a more than 50-year-old Thai style stilt house, is the hub for cultural activities. Inside guests can learn about the various ethnic groups that live in the area, their traditions, clothes, and customs. Underneath the raised house, there are hands-on opportunities to experience the culture from rattan weaving workshops to Batik art classes, where textiles are created with symbols of significance for the Hmong people. “The traditions and culture of the ethnic minority groups of this area are shared orally,” explained Huy. “We want to play our part in keeping those traditions and stories alive through our museum, experiences, and through classes with local artisans who are just as passionate about what they do as we are.” Avana does more than work with just local artists though. More than 90% of staff are from Thai, Hmong, and Muong villages. Most of the current team lacked education beyond high school and were provided with hospitality training, sustainable development education, and English lessons, as well as given health insurance, professional working conditions, promotion prospects, and additional job training for continual development. The property’s design was created with direct input from local people. Hmong techniques were used to make the earth walls and the Thai people weaved the roofs of the villas, restaurants, and spa, in their traditional style. The artistic traditions of the region are ever present throughout Avana, from the hundreds of individually crafted lanterns lining pathways and within the rooms and public spaces, to the Batik artwork adorning the walls. Going organic inside and out Earlier this year Avana launched their own natural, pesticide-free garden, where they grow a vast selection of herbs and vegetables that appear on guests’ plates. From chayote to coriander many typical Vietnamese flavours can be found in the new vegetable patch. Also on site is a free-range chicken farm where around 300 chickens enjoy a spacious home, while supplying the kitchen with an abundance of eggs. Organic essential oils and natural ingredients are used for the soap, shampoo, and conditioner found in the refillable bottles in-room. At the spa, nature is also tapped for the products used with organic extracts from herbs, flowers, and fruit used in massages and facials, as well as in the candle-making workshop available for guests. “At each stage of developing Avana, we’ve asked ourselves, ‘how can we offer the best to our guests and the community while making sure that we’re doing the best we can for the environment?’,” added Huy. “As we continue to grow in the experiences we offer and the property itself, this idea remains our guiding philosophy.”

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Thirty-hectare beachfront resort Alma has cultivated its own onsite farm to produce an array of fruits, vegetables, herbs and chicken eggs, affording organic zero-kilometre vegetables for guests’ meals and beverages. In a bid to make Alma more self-sufficient and sustainable, landscape manager Ngo Duc Thinh and his team of green thumbs have transformed parts of the family resort into a 1000sqm nursery garden, a 260sqm chicken farm and a 180sqm herb garden. Situated on the northern end of Alma’s grounds, a short walk from the Active Youth Club for teenagers, the nursery garden is thriving with bananas, coconuts, papaya, squash, passionfruit, sunflowers, daisies and more. Adjacent to the nursery garden, the chicken farm is currently home to a growing brood of 17 hens, six roosters and 18 chicks. Situated just outside beachfront restaurant Atlantis, with panoramic views of Long Beach, the herb garden is brimming with mustard leaves, morning glory, red and green chili peppers, Vietnamese basil, lettuce, green onions, white radish, bok choy, tomatoes and more. Currently all the farm’s produce is directed to the resort’s restaurants. Bananas, coconuts and eggs, for example, are served during breakfast at Alma Garden restaurant. Lettuce and mustard leaves are included in salads and coconuts are provided as drinks at Atlantis. Italian restaurant La Casa’s traditional caprese salad features tomatoes from the herb garden along with locally produced mozzarella cheese. Leftovers from the resort’s kitchens are used as compost and the farm is watered with recycled water. Complimentary garden tours are on offer for the whole family, with staff sharing fruitful tips on how to cultivate a veggie patch at home. Children also learn about how to care for chickens. Alma also plans to host cooking classes by the farm, where guests pick and clean their ingredients to cook their own healthy meals. “We feel so proud to be putting our resort’s land to good use by creating our very own farm and embracing the ‘farm to table’ movement; it’s so rewarding for our team of gardeners to see how the kitchen staff love picking produce from the farm, and to see guests of all ages take tours of the farm with interest and curiosity,” said Mr Thinh. “There’s a lot of talk in the hospitality industry about going green but it’s really important to walk the talk and this is yet another initiative at Alma that helps create a more sustainable holiday for guests,” added Alma’s managing director Herbert Laubichler-Pichler. The resort’s ‘hotel as farm’ efforts follow numerous initiatives including plans to implement Vietnam’s most ambitious solar power project for a hotel yet, and the appointment of a sustainability officer. In addition to engaging staff in sustainability initiatives across three staff committees focused on ‘green products’, ‘innovation and solutions’ and ‘people and partnerships’, Alma has other measures in place to reduce its carbon footprint including a water treatment plant, electric buggy station, recycling in its garbage room and the resort’s transition to paperless solutions due to Alma App. To contact Alma or to make a booking, please email info@alma-resort.com or call +84 258 399 1666 About Alma  Situated on Vietnam’s emerging Cam Ranh peninsula fronting Long Beach, Alma resort commands some 30 hectares of inspiring ground. Emblematic of Vietnam‘s maturation as a destination, the bold and spacious integrated resort offers 580 oversized suites and pavilions that all afford sweeping vistas of the ocean, including contemporary three bedroom oceanfront pavilions each totalling 224 sqm with a living room, four bathrooms and a private pool. Alma features a broad spectrum of restaurants helmed by top chefs, a food court with an array of local and international cuisine, as well as a sports bar, pool bar and beach bar. Other highlights include 12 swimming pools cascading down to the beach, a waterpark, 13-treatment room spa, 70-seat cinema, convention centre, amphitheater, science museum, gymnasium and yoga room, 18-hole mini golf course, a youth centre with virtual reality games, a kid’s club, water sports centre and even an ‘Alma Mart‘ mini supermarket.

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Rubbish, garbage, waste or whatever you want to call it is a huge problem everywhere, and Koh Lanta is no exception. The overall objectives of Lanta Community Composting Project is to demonstrate the possibility of reducing organic waste going to landfill by composting both on-site and off-site. Given the small scale of this pilot project, while it will reduce organic waste and produce income, it is not expected to solve Koh Lanta’s waste problem at once. The intent is for the project to serve as a learning center, to inspire and empower individuals, business owners and community leaders to set up small scale composting stations throughout the island. The project will be set up, co-ordinated and overseen by a volunteer committee, committed to transparency and open books with the financial plans and collections for this project. Lanta Community Composting Project will secure a reliable source of food and yard waste by Membership drop-off system. Training will be provided with regards to what can and cannot be composted. Local businesses and individuals who are interested are registered as members; they will need to put food waste into covered container provided by the project to be dropped off daily to the composting station. All new members should receive a basic orientation in how to compost, and the quantity of members should be regulated to ensure that the bins are neither significantly underused nor overused. The project will recruit local sea gypsy in Nai-Rai community, preferably elderly members to perform the day-to-day composting operations, maintenance and monitoring of the composting station. A big thank you goes to Khun Teerapoch Kasirawat, Chairman of Lanta Tourist Association, who offered the use of his land at Boat Leaf Resort to start the project. The land measures approximately 1600 sqm of land, or one rai in Thai standards, and the pilot project has been given a 2 years lease  free of charge, with the possibility for longer period. Boat Leaf Resort is an ideal location for a small to medium scale off-site composting station being situated behind Saladan School, with the road leading to many restaurants and resorts in the area. The site would be a drop off location of organic waste from restaurants around the community and serve as a central station for composting. It is also at a central location to engage and educate students, local residents and businesses, and it is on the main road so it can be seen by all passers by who can then visit the station. Koh Lanta will benefit in different ways: in the Short term, the development of a pilot project will demonstrate the possibility of individual home composting as well as small scale community composting stations; also, the project will raise local awareness of the value and opportunities of composting through education in schools and community outreach. In the Long term, the future chance to develop small composting stations throughout Koh Lanta in partnership with community leaders and business owners; the reduction of organic waste going to landfill; the usage of organic waste for growing local products; and the potential to create jobs and revenue for communities through sale of high quality compost. If you have any question, wish to receive news and updates or you wish to donate to the project, you can contact them at https://www.facebook.com/cashtotrashlanta Check out details on the method used at Lanta’s first Community Compost Station here: https://www.facebook.com/lantaoctoberfest2015/posts/1127425760652678 Composting without turning Lot of questions were posted on their Facebook page about how the compost system works and what system they are using. Here is the breakdown on the compost without turning plans. The best part is: no smell and very little work! After studying a number of composting options that are available, ’Composting without Turning’ is the best method to use. An innovation in food waste and green waste composting method, developed by Maejo University in Chiang Mai, composting without turning allows for organic waste to be managed at individual household scale up to industrial scale with minimum labour and equipment. This method of composting have been widely used since 2009. Composting without turning is an Aerobic type of composting where a large amount of oxygen is needed and moisture is crucial to support the micro-organisms. The method is therefore suited to this pilot project for the following reasons: – The compost rings/bins to contain the waste for composting are economical and readily available – The compost rings/bins can be placed in the open and requires very little space – Very low tech – Low maintenance – Can be adjusted to any scale of users; community, hotels, resorts, restaurant/bar, home The rings/bins are set up to allow generous air flow and waste is layered lasagna style, alternating between kitchen wastes, green wastes( leaves, grass clipping) and animal manure. Once full, the rings/bins are left to stand for approximately 60 days during which time the rings are watered at intervals. In conversations with the head of Compost project at Birds & Bees resort and Maejo University, and testing the method at Costa Lanta, this system does not create nuisances to the surrounding community. When layered correctly, the compost rings/bins do not attract rodents, flies or other pests. Check out these photos of how Costa Lanta Resort, Ko Lanta, Thailand has already implemented the system. This year Lanta October Fun Fair, set on Sunday the 9th October 2016, will raise money for Lanta Community Composting Project. Follow them on fb  https://www.facebook.com/lantaoctoberfest2015/ and check their article HERE !

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