March 2018 saw the conclusion of the ESIN water study involving 8 small European islands in Greece, Croatia, Ireland and France which all had issues with water shortage. ESIN received a prize for its research on four areas of water saving actions (training, engineering, billing and switching off) at the Greening the Islands Conference held in Savignana, Sicily, last September and will be presenting an overview of the project at the 2nd Smart Islands Global Gathering in Calvia this April.
One of the most interesting examples of water saving was provided by 2 islands in Croatia’s Dalmatian coast, Vis and Lastovo. The diagram below represents their average water consumption of 120 litres per day split in different uses: the darker the colour, the less purified the water needs to be. By way of comparison, the average daily water consumption rate per capita in Europe varies between 40 and 150 litres per day.
To encourage water saving in particular through water flow reducers (from 12 to 6 litres per minute), Sunce, a local sustainable development agency, developed “EkoPartner,” an eco-certification program for environmentally-responsible private tourist accommodations. The EkoPartner certification included 3 mandatory eco criteria, water saving, waste recycling (at least one type of waste) and energy efficiency (LED lights), with a further 7 criteria: washing & cleaning with eco products, green transport, local community involvement, organic and local food, noise & light pollution, traditional architecture, knowledge improvement.
10 small tourist accommodation providers on Lastovo and 5 on Vis were certified: a good start but not enough to make a real impact.
To build on this, Sunce started a new innovative eco-certification program called Dalmatia Green last July as part of a Greening of Dalmatia Tourism Offer project. To prove that going ‘green’ and saving water really pays off, the program provides several discounts to tourist accommodations from green industry companies to enable an easier step into eco-friendly practices.
Dalmatia Green then differentiates eco-friendly accommodations and lists them on Ecobnb.com – an international platform for booking of sustainable accommodations. The program also has an educational dimension in that guests are provided with tips on how to be a sustainable tourist and use water wisely!