The first step when conceiving one of our camping resorts is to design practical campsites that are efficient in their use of resources, adapted to the need of our surroundings and that preserve their environment.

Below we list the basic points, called eco-principles, on which Marjal’s environmental commitment is based:

1) Saving resources

At Marjal Costa Blanca we will implement the latest systems in terms of technology, sustainability and protecting our surroundings and the environment.

Among the characteristics of saving consumption, we can highlight:

• Selective recycling plant. Storing all waste independently: paper, glass, organic waste, batteries and plastic, for future recycling.
• The buildings and common services at the complex are designed and situated so that the sun, an abundant resource in our area, illuminates them for the maximum number of hours. This limits electric lighting expenses and allows us to accumulate energy in the form of hot water from the solar panels located on each building.
• All the taps at the camping resort have flow restrictors installed. These give the same sensation of water used but consume half the water of a normal tap. The correct use of water in a country with little rainfall is basic for a rigorous sustainability policy.
• Collecting rainwater and storing it allows us to water the common gardens all year round, likewise the use of native plants in the gardens. The harvested rainwater is also used for toilet flushing.
• The heat exchangers installed in the common areas not only allow us to enjoy pure and clean air, but also an appropriate temperature at any time of year, while hardly using any energy as the changes in the outdoor temperature allow us to accumulate or dissipate heat.
• Taking advantage of the excellent climate of Alicante, cars loose prominence in favour of the bicycle and of electric transport at our holiday complex. It boasts a bicycle lane that is as fun as it is environmentally friendly and guests can use the electric vehicles available for travelling within the camping-resort.
• LED light bulbs, used in all of the buildings at the tourist complex, give out light and do not generate heat like a conventional light bulb. This new light technology uses almost 80% less energy than a normal light bulb.

2) Sustainable use of material

Marjal suggests you enjoy your holidays in complexes that are built with environmentally friendly materials:

• We use non-polluting materials which, during their production, use and after their useful life, are neither harmful to people nor the environment where they are located.
• All of the wood of the Balinese-style holiday homes comes from certified sustainable forests. This means that their sustainability is guaranteed as their growth rate is higher than the rate of the trees felled in them.

3) Healthy lifestyle

Health is a special feature of our complexes:

• The climate, the surroundings and the infrastructures of our complex allow you to lead a full, active and healthy life. The outdoor fitness /cardio circuit, spa, saunas, areas of relax, physiotherapists, heated pools, 24 hour medical service, sports fields, etc., together with the natural spots nearby, such as the “El Hondo” Natural Park and its hiking and bicycle touring routes, allow exercise and activity to benefit your health considerably at our camping resort.

4) Intelligent design

Integrating our designs into the surroundings is another element that differentiates us. We want Marjal camping resorts to form part of the landscape and that they do not interrupt the beauty of the location nor the traditional shape of the place.

The design of our establishments and facilities stands out for its soft, Mediterranean lines, as well as for the architecture of low buildings with warm colours.

5)Unique surroundings

The surrounding area must be a carefully chosen place. When Marjal decides to search for a place for new holiday resorts, we think about many details.

The importance of the surroundings means that our locations must offer services, nature and health:

• The complex is located in the Bajo Vinalopó valley, surrounded by farm land, local fauna and blue, sunny skies all year round

The pleasant temperature in a natural environment creates a special climate where there are no extremes nor sudden changes and there is little rainfall. It is the perfect place to enjoy the surroundings and nature. And weather couldn’t be better – annual average temperature of 20 degrees and 300 days of sun per year!

• Crevillente and Catral, beautiful villages of inland Alicante province, breathe tradition and tranquillity. They are very close to Marjal campsite and a step away from coastal towns such as Guardamar. Here you will find all the services you need: banks, shops, restaurants… everything you could possibly look for.
• “El Hondo” Natural Park, close to the resort, is made up of several lakes in which there is a wide variety of animal species. It particularly stands out for its birds. There are a large number of herons, such as the purple heron, black-crowned night heron and squacco heron. The park has a Mediterranean climate with characteristics inherent to the south-eastern Iberian Peninsula.
• Our commitment to this type of surroundings also entails a careful study of the area, to achieve the maximum integration of the complex in this beautiful enclave and to respect the ecological surroundings of the place: particularly when dealing with a tourist resort such as a campsite, where the natural and primitive state of the land is hardly affected or modified.

A Chinese business man named Winston Chung has made a deal with an american RV company to build and export $5 billion worth of them. The Chinese government has targeted the RV industry as they see RV as the perfect complement to China´s ideal of family life. ”A family with an RV is a family more in harmony with each other” says Chung.

His company, Winston Global Energy produces rechargeable electric batteries for a wide range of vehicles and it is the only one in the world producing batteries for buses.

The negative environmental part is that the RV building deal is only to produce gasoline powered RVs which are very popular in China. It´s a pity that Chung’s company producing batteries the deal is for gasoline powered RVs. But Chung himself hopes that in the near future RVs will be electrically powered, as they already developed a prototype.

It would be great to see electric RVs!

Source: L.A. Times

The remarkable thing about these hornets is their outrageous bee-slaughtering power. One single hornet can kill 40 bees in a minute, also they can travel up to 50 miles a day. But there is a reason why these Hornets are so strong and fast, you might think that it’s because they eat a lot of bees, but the curious thing is that they don´t eat them because they can´t digest them, they just chew them and then they feed their larvae with the chewed bees. Their larvae, in exchange, produce a sort of juice which gives hornets their stamina and strength. Strange uh?

Now, a company has studied that larvae juice,  ”copied” it and it’s now selling it. They claim it has plenty of beneficial effects, improving your endurance, recovery and fat burning.

Want to give it a try? You can order it from here: http://www.hornetjuice.com

From http://www.hornetjuice.com/

Maybe you describe yourself as an ECO-person, but, did you ever wonder what your own ennvironmental impact is?

With this carbon calculator provided by The Guardian

We sneak this pic from their blog, for the rest click here

Sierra de Crevillente

Enjoy!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/18/science/18birds.html

Chad Rachman/Staten Island Advance

Basically, they say it is normal that birds die.

Do you believe it?

From http://blog.apiculture-populaire.com/vespa-velutina/

As if bees hadn´t had enough with being threatened by pollution and diseases, a new threat might arrive to the Costa Blanca: The Asian Giant Hornet, this predator insect has devastated many bee hives in southern France, it has also been spotted in the north of Spain, and now it approaches our territory.

These hornets are quite aggressive and some attacks to humans have been reported in France. They Usually attack in swarms and their sting is said to be very painful.

One of these hornets can kill 1000 bees within one hour!

Watch out!

What is the sustainable dance floor?

The Sustainable Dance Floor (SDF) uses dancing and moving people as a sustainable source of energy,



As they state in the company website:

To create electricity, the floor will compress 10mm when being stepped on. This small compression is enough to activate the internal generator of that module that will produce up to 35 Watt of sustained output per module.

The dance floor being a scalable floor with modules of 75x75x20 cm each, allows for a large amount of possible sizes, shapes and designs of the setup. The experience can be custom designed for clients to fit any requirement.

It is  really interesting, imagine the possibilities of this kind of floor tiles, maybe not that much on a sidewalk, because they go 1 cm down when you step on them, but definitely every dance club should have this sort of flooring!

As a Camping Resort committed to sustainable development we will promote and encourage any initiatives that try to minimize environmental impact in all sorts of fields.

We believe tourism can be compatible with respect for nature.

Don´t forget  you can now  follow us on Twitter and soon you will be able to follow us on Facebook and other social networks.

We also hope that you find our posts interesting and many of you keep following us until our grand opening in December 2011 and after.

Good blogging!

The Marjal Costa Blanca ECO Resort Team