SOUFRIERE, St Lucia — Jade Mountain and Anse Chastanet resorts are marking Earth Day by switching their lighting systems to an energy efficient, ecologically friendly light-emitting diode (LED) solution.

Karolin Troubetzkoy, who manages operations at the award-winning St Lucian resorts, said: “We have registered an initiative with EarthDay.org, stating our commitment to change from incandescent to LED lighting.”

Carl Hunter, property manager for the world renowned resorts, asserted that the switch to power-saving LED lights will reduce electricity consumption on site from a total lighting load of 120,000 watts to 15,000 watts, a reduction of 87.5 per cent of the property’s lighting load. This represents a monthly reduction of 37,400 kWh.

“The switch to LED bulbs will significantly reduce our carbon footprint and the resorts’ dependence on the burning of expensive fossil fuels to generate energy,” he added.

As to cost savings, he asserted they were significant. A minimum savings of US$4,140 per month is expected over a lamp’s lifecycle of 50,000 hours, or 22 years. The investment of approximately US$21,000 will achieve simple payback on energy savings over five months.

The Earth Day Network’s year-round mission is to broaden, diversify and activate the environmental movement worldwide, through a combination of education, public policy, and consumer campaigns.

Anse Chastanet, and later Jade Mountain, was built on the philosophical foundation of environmental consciousness, long before ecological sensitivity and energy efficiency became fashionable.

Only natural lighting is used at the resorts during the day. The external areas and grounds are illuminated by yellow lighting, which does not interfere with the local environment or wild animal behavior. Yellow lighting is also used in areas where turtles hatch as it does not disorient the young hatchlings.

With the exception of 12 air conditioned units, all accommodations at Jade Mountain and Anse Chastanet have been designed to take advantage of natural air flow making air conditioning unnecessary. Additionally, pumping for waste water is limited to a single stage primary lift pump to start the process; the balance of the treatment is done with gravity flow systems, eliminating the need for additional power consumption.

Anse Chastanet and Jade Mountain take pride in sharing their commitment to environmental stewardship with resort visitors.

“We give our guests information about the culture, history, and ecology of the local region, including local environmental protection efforts and social and cultural activities,” said Troubetzkoy.