Crystal Clean
Crystal Cruises recognizes that our wonderful world is precious and fragile. Our commitment to developing plans for preventing pollution, complying with worldwide environmental regulations, and continually improving our environmental management system to minimize and reduce the environmental impact of our operations is key to our keeping “Crystal Clean®".
Specific environmental targets and accomplishments include:
GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION - To reduce CO2 emissions productions, Crystal Cruises instituted the following:
FUEL REDUCTION PROGRAM, VIA THE FOLLOWING INITIATIVES:
• Hull cleaning
• Propeller polishing
• Application of advanced technology hull coatings when ships are painted in dry docks (such as Intersleeck 900, a state of the art polymer based paint that will returns significant fuel savings)
• Fuel additives that improve combustion efficiency and reduce visible stack emissions.
• Itinerary planning which considers optimal speeds between ports (and more time in the ports themselves)
• Reduction of electricity usage
"CO2 DIET DECLARATION” CAMPAIGN:
Twice a year, all employees are asked to commit to small changes to their daily routines to help reduce CO2 emissions. Examples include:
• Turning off water while brushing teeth or washing your face
• Not letting your car idle unnecessarily
• Buying local produce
• Adjusting your refrigerator temperature
Opacity of air emission on all engines is continuously monitored to ensure that our vessels meets or exceed the restrictions on the amount which may be released from our vessels. Additionally, Crystal Cruises meets or exceeds all fuel use regulations in order to reduce the production of CO2 and greenhouse gases. We have even received awards from Port of Stockholm and Venice for these efforts. We are closely monitoring the developments in technology to "scrub" the exhaust gases.
ENERGY CONSERVATION
Crystal makes every effort to conserve energy both on-board its ships and in its corporate office, undertaking such measures and policies as
• Turning off all lights in unsold staterooms
• Turning off all lights and televisions when housekeeping departs staterooms
• Instituting optimal lighting settings throughout the ships
• Installing motion sensitive lights in our corporate offices
• Changing corridor lighting from florescent lights to LED lights
• Changing low-voltage downlights to infrared coating lamps, thereby giving us a 15 watt per bulb savings
Many of these efforts were instigated as a result of a detailed lighting study and analysis we undertook to find out ways we could enhance the efficiency of our electrical usage.
WATER CONSERVATION
The following have been installed and offered to reduce water consumption on our ships:
• Low flow showerheads (all staterooms and crew cabins) that have reduced water usage for bathing by 50%.
• Water restrictors on faucets (all staterooms and crew cabins).
• Reverse Osmosis plants, to increase onboard water-making capacity and reduce boiler fuel consumption to heat water makers.
• Eco-friendly Natura water filtration system (in specialty restaurants on Crystal Symphony), to replace outside bottled water with sparkling and flat drinking water that is created, filtered, and bottled on-board (currently investigating expansion of this program).
• Guests are offered the opportunity to help the environment by reducing their changes of linen and towels. Reuse of towels (i.e., not changing them daily) on both ships saves approximately half a million gallons of water each year.
• A water saving video has been produced that is used for training of crew members on more efficient use of water onboard in order to raise awareness of water consumption and reduce the amount used.
WASTE DISPOSAL
Crystal does it utmost to handle waste in an environmentally friendly manner, as outlined below:
"NOTHING OVERBOARD" POLICY:
• Food discharged over the side of the ship can negatively affect the natural habitat and food chain, especially in reef ecosystems, as well as raise the Biological Oxygen Demand level, which is harmful to wildlife and the ecosystem. Thus, Crystal never discharges food waste overboard.
• Crystal never discharges waste water—treated or otherwise--in marine sanctuaries or other environmentally sensitive areas. Wherever facilities are available, Crystal Cruises will discharge its wastewater to shoreside facilities.
GARBAGE ON SHIPS:
All solid waste is collected in the garbage room and sorted by type of waste: burnable garbage, hazardous waste, food waste, glass, plastic, aluminum, etc. The waste is then either burned in the incinerator (food products, cardboard, etc.) or landed ashore (as is the ash) for disposal or recycling (if possible) by reputable onshore disposal companies, and in compliance with all applicable laws.
RECYCLING ON SHIPS:
• Glass is sorted by color, then offloaded for recycling, along with other non-biodegradable substances such as glass, aluminum, steel cans and plastics, wherever possible.
• Printer cartridges, batteries, and leftover soap and toiletries are collected but held onboard until the vessels are back in U.S. ports that recycle these items (the latter items being used in the “Clean the World— program).
• When possible, we also donate mattresses, bedding and other items that we have discontinued using on board
WASTE REDUCTION
Crystal Cruises always considers how an item is packaged with respect to reducing waste, as evidenced by the following practices:
Laundry:
• Recyclable bags: Disposable plastic laundry, shoeshine and dry cleaning bags in guest staterooms have been replaced with reusable cloth bags; dry-cleaned or pressed are returned to guests in these bags, on recyclable cardboard hangers.
• Dryer sheets: We recently replaced our single use/2 dryer sheet packages available in the guest laundry areas with large, bulk boxes where guests can take only what they need, thereby resulting in an 80% reduction in the amount of packaging for this product.
Provisions:
Pallets and containers sent to the vessel as part of the provisioning are arranged in such a way as to minimize the amount of packaging materials necessary.
CHEMICAL USE
We use environmentally friendly cleaning products to the fullest extent possible, and are currently in the process of modifying our hotel chemical program to virtually eliminate phosphates and meet the rules set by the Alaska Clean Water Act. We already use only use phosphate-free soaps for exterior washing, and, in fact, require all cleaning products to be reviewed and approved by our Environmental Director before being used onboard our ships.
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
Lecturers:
In environmentally sensitive areas, we often bring lecturers onboard to educate guests and crew about the areas in which we are sailing, including education on any necessary precautions to protect the local wildlife.
Crew Training & Edification:
• Crew members are required to participate in an environmental training program every year, which details our environmental policy and procedures, impacts on the environment, as well as environmental conservation and preservation efforts which we are undertaking.
• Crew members are also invited to participate in our parent company’s annual environmental e-learning program, which provides information on general environmental “hot topics— and how each person can help make a difference.
• Crystal’s monthly environmental Email campaign educates all employees on various environmental themes, such as: "Air Pollution", “Ecological Footprint", “Why Recycle Glass", “What the Price Tag Doesn't Tell You: How to Be a Conscious Consumer", “Battery Recycling", “Impact of Using Plastic Bags", and “Global Warming".
WILDLIFE AND MARINE LIFE PRESERVATION
• Our navigational watch officers all receive training in whale strike avoidance, including a voluntary speed reduction whenever a whale is observed.
• Our ships have all been designed/constructed to minimize noise and vibration underwater, as well as above water, so as to minimize impact on sea life.
• We partner with eco-conscious companies that are actively involved with the protection and preservation of wildlife in our various ports-of-call such as South Africa and Australia. By seeing the wildlife upfront, and learning about preservation efforts through their adventures, our guests get a personal education about wildlife challenges and further opportunities to help local protection efforts.
CULTURAL PRESERVATION
We strive to support the preservation of cultural sites around the world through donations and/or other initiatives. We often arrange private excursions for our guests to UNESCO World Heritage Sites such as Pompeii and the Vatican, where our/their tourism dollars go toward further preservation efforts of these cultural treasures. Guests can also give back directly through select “You Care, We Care— voluntourism offerings.