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SHANGHAI, China: In Shanghai, one company has turned the green concept into a unique boutique hotel that offsets its carbon footprints.
Check in to URBN Hotel in Shanghai and the carbon footprint trail you leave behind will be taken care of.
Carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide we release into the atmosphere every time we do something.
Amanda Cui, general manager, Emissions Zero, said: "Basically, it's a record of how much you emit in your daily life. In our daily life, we use electricity, we use gas, we eat food.
"Like the production of this table here, they all use energy and that energy is produced from fossil fuels. Fossil fuel burning emits a lot of carbon dioxide and we can actually calculate how much carbon dioxide is emitted from the production of this table."
The gas that goes into the atmosphere causes the greenhouse effect and too much of it is dangerous for the planet because the rise in temperature leads to global climate change.
URBN, China's first carbon neutral hotel, was conceived by owners Scott Barrack and Jules Kwan. They invest in green energy development and emission reduction projects in China.
"We can work out each month the dollar value (of) those emissions and the company Emission Zero will invest that money into a clean energy project which takes the equivalent amount of emissions back out from the atmosphere that we have so-called put into the air. We are not carbon free but carbon neutral," said Kwan.
According to the United Nations, China produces about 140 million tons of garbage annually and 90 percent of it is dumped – untreated – into landfills. The landfill air consists mainly of methane – a greenhouse gas that is 21 times stronger than carbon dioxide.
Cui said: "URBN Hotel purchases their offsets from a landfill in Shenzhen. Most landfill in China emit methane directly into the atmosphere...
"(But) because they have this carbon finance, and the money helps them to build a ‘capture’ equipment, they can actually capture all the methane that they are emitting into the atmosphere and use the methane to produce electricity. The electricity produced by this project is green electricity."
As part of its recycling efforts, URBN also salvaged bricks and tiles from demolished buildings, using them for floors and walls.
To save energy, intelligent designs allow natural sunlight to be used as much as possible. Besides having bamboo trees which offer shade, fluorescent lights and water-based air-conditioning systems have also been installed for eco-conscious travellers.
So customers' air-travel to Shanghai, coupled with the duration of their stay and use of various facilities, will be calculated. URBN will then purchase carbon credits to offset these carbon footprints.
No one can be carbon free, let alone companies. But URBN aims to be a trailblazer in this industry and hopefully inspire other businesses to follow in its footsteps.
- CNA/so
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