The island of Lanzarote in the Canarian archipelago at first glance may not seem to have the best of green credentials. But there are a number of ways in which it beats other destinations hands down for holidaymakers looking to reduce their carbon footprint.
To begin with, its location only four hours flight from the United Kingdom means that it is half the distance and therefore half the fuel consumption, of the Caribbean. And it can vie with tropical islands for all year round good weather, with an average of only twenty days rainfall per annum and day time temperatures of approximately 20º Celsius even in mid winter.
Even the Lanzarote holiday villas make a contribution to reducing the use of non natural energy sources.
And thanks to the year round spring like climate the island enjoys, solar panels are widely in use for a variety of purposes. Most apartments in Lanzarote will have an array of the panels on their roofs to create hot water for the swimming pool and showers. Elsewhere, the panels may be teamed up with dry storage batteries to create electricity indoors.
Water recycling has long been in vogue, due to the fact that there is no natural source for fresh water on the island. Instead, tap water is produced by a desalination plant that draws in seawater and extracts the salt from it. Which makes larger consumers, such as golf courses, much more careful with their water usage when keeping their greens irrigated.
But it isn’t just power generation that makes Lanzarote an environmentally sound tourist destination. As the island has also developed its resorts and attractions in ways that minimise the impact on the scenery and surroundings thanks to the vision and resourcefulness of the internationally renowned artist and architect Cesar Manrique.
For all these reasons, holidays in Lanzarote often make visitors feel they are returning to the past. Where white washed villages and towns bear none of the ugly scars such as high-rise buildings and advertising hoardings that can be readily found elsewhere. And Lanzarote apartments rise no taller than a palm tree.
Further details about available apartments in Lanzarote can be found on the Lanzarote1.com website.