Caption: Earth Hour is always a big family event at the Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort and Spa.
Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort and Spa has committed all proceeds from its Earth Day Thursday Tie Dye activity towards the World Wildlife Fund for Nature Pacific crowd fund for solar power and water tank projects in Vanua Levu. In addition to this the resort is also providing around 200 solar lights for children in remote communities who are part of the resorts Embrace projects.
On making the announcement Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort & Spa General Manager, Michael Monks, said the two projects were another way of integrating the resorts ongoing work with global efforts to raise awareness about the environment.
“We are proud to partner with the WWF Pacific team here in Fiji for this worthy cause as community is something close to our heart,” Mr Monks said. “Closer to home here at Yanuca we are have purchased around 200 solar lamps that we will distribute to our Embrace schools so that school children have access to light if they need to study at night.
“This is especially critical in our schools that are situated in remote areas that have limited access to electricity and it is a safe and eco-friendly way of providing light for them.”
The resort has been part of the Earth Hour movement for the last five years and the event is part of the resort’s ongoing work to raise awareness on marine conservation and the environment.
Fiji was one of the first countries in the world to switch off from 8.30pm-9.30pm on Saturday, March, 29.
Earth Hour is an annual highlight on the resorts environment calendar. This year the resort marked Earth Hour with a day-long event beginning with a cleanup in the morning and an Earth Hour pledge by guests and colleagues.
It concluded with an Earth Hour Family night when all non-essential lights at the resort will be switched off.
As Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort & Spa switched off on Saturday it was part of a global movement that included around 5,411 cities and 157 countries from its closest neighbors in the Pacific to its furthest at the International Space Station.
The International Space Station provided live commentary and pictures from space as landmarks around the world switched off as it participated for the first time this year. Other iconic international monuments such as the Sultan Ahmed “Blue Mosque” in Istanbul, Turkey, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France and the Opera House in Sydney, Australia had also participated.
In 2014 Earth Hour Blue saw the most exciting stage of its evolution, to be at the forefront of crowd funding and crowdsourcing for causes, innovation and creativity for the planet.
Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts remains committed to operating in an economically, socially and environmentally responsible manner while balancing the interests of diverse stakeholders. In striving to be a leader in corporate citizenship and sustainable development, a corporate-level CSR Committee driving the company’s initiatives in the strategic areas of stakeholder relations, the environment, health and safety, the supply chain and employees.
Under the umbrella of “sustainability,” Shangri-La’s social responsibility programme consists of the two elements of “embrace” and “sanctuary.” “Embrace” focuses on Shangri-La’s Caring People Project, which aims to promote the highest level of education and health support in underprivileged communities.
In “sanctuary,” the programme concentrates on Shangri-La’s Care for Nature Project, which promotes the conservation and restoration of biodiversity.
For more information, please access the CSR section on www.shangri-la.com.
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