The environment has always been big business – without the natural resources of our planet, there would be no commerce (and no life). In recent years though, the impact of human activity on our environment has become mainstream news, spurring a whole new “green” industry. With knowledge comes awareness, followed by a change of behaviour, at least for a business like ours.

Accounting for the environmental cost of a business activity is not easy, especially if we are only considering the cost of replacing what we use. For example, using 300 trees to build an eco-aware accommodation might seem a simple case: simply plant 300 or more new trees. Hang on though, what if those trees were taken from a mature forest with a variety of species: flora and wildlife. Simply planting 300 new trees of a single variety would not bring back the diversity nor the inhabitants of the previous forest. And we haven’t even accounted for the carbon cost of logging, shipping and preparing the wood for use as a construction material.

Cacao Resorts attempts to account for the total cost to the environment of our actions and look at ways to replace and replenish the natural resources used, either by buying from accredited suppliers with sound practice, or by supporting programmes specifically designed to nurture our natural resources and maintain that all important balance between consumption and conservation.