By José Antonio Pérez
As a socially responsible company, the tourist complex Las Palomas Beach and Golf Resort is implementing a new campaign for a “StrawLess Ocean”, given the negative impact these have on oceans, marine wildlife, and the environment.
Hector Vázquez del Mercado, General Manager for Las Palomas, detailed through this campaign, which was to officially be launched on June 8th World Oceans Day, the resort will be able to stop the use of some 400 thousand straws a year.
Similarly, he mentioned, just as the resort is part of clean beach certification, they want to take this a step further by stopping use of plastic straws and substitute these with paper – yet only if/when guests request.
Las Palomas chose to focus on the #StrawLessOcean campaign as straws are among the hardest items to collect when cleaning, and one of the most harmful because they can take up to 100 years (or more) to bio-degrade. Campaign materials detailed 71% of birds and 30% of sea turtles across the world have some sort of plastic residue, and of those who ingest it there is only a 50% survival rate. Besides, if we continue to use the same amount of plastics it is estimated that by the year 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the sea.
Vázquez del Mercado emphasized the main objective is to save the Sea of Cortez since it is what provides Puerto Peñasco with an economy. This is why this #StrawLessOcean campaign is expected to be adopted by other businesses and complexes in Puerto Peñasco, and why it will also be encouraged through the local Conventions and Visitors Bureau.
#StrawLessOcean
#KeepItCleanLasPalomas