Blue Planet Journey

Caroline displaying a vegetarian dish on the Solstice . For this episode of my discussion of " greenwashing " on the Celebrity Solstice , I want to mention 3 issues: straws, refillable bottles, and vegetarian meals. As far as I can tell, there is not a single water bottle-filling station on this ship.  The water dispensers in the dining areas all have signs that state, no reusing of containers.  There's not even a bottle-filling fountain in the gym!  I guess when your business model involves selling beverages in bottles and cans, there's no room for reusable containers.  All day long, guests are carrying around drinks, the vast majority of which appear to be beer, sodas, and bottled water, in one-time-use containers. Two staff members mentioned that the reason for no refillable containers is to prevent "contamination."  This is patently absurd, given that 3000+ counties with local health departments in the US allow bottle-refilling station...

The Celebrity Solstice sells sunscreens containing products considered to be harmful to coral reefs. In my last post , I defined " greenwashing ." Wikipedia defines it as "...a form of spin in which green PR or green marketing is deceptively used to promote the perception that an organization's products, aims or policies are environmentally friendly." Celebrity Cruises (actually, their parent compan y) has developed a relationship with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) that has the characteristics of greenwashing. On paper, the relationship involves improvements in carbon emissions, wild caught and farmed seafood, key food commodity procurement, and meeting general standards for sustainable tourism.  There are goals set for 2020.  There is no obvious barometer that gives me a hint how Celebrity is progressing toward these goals, and some evidence that indicates problem areas. Sustainable seafood: The 2020 goal for Celebrity Cruises,...

" Greenwashing " refers to the business practice of promoting, falsely, a positive environmental agenda.  It's a marketing scheme that hints at environmental sustainability and protection without environmental sustainability and protection actually happening. The focus is on capturing a greater market share of the people who want to protect the environment.  In greenwashing, any real environmental gains are minimal because, when you remove the fluff, the commitment is not there.   Selling merchandise on the Solstice to support WWF.  This happens once per cruise.  It is unclear how much money is raised, and where this money goes.  Participants, however, probably believe they are doing something positive for the environment.  I doubt it. Celebrity Cruises regularly promotes its  partnership with WWF, the World Wildlife Fund .  However, this partnership is difficult to see in action.  First, more than half of the crew tha...