Sasha Huang
- Sep 13, 2022

Esin Güral Argat of JOALI Being Shares Her Top 5 Eco-Friendly Practices in the Maldives

INTERVIEW

We chat with Esin Güral Argat about her top five eco-friendly practices in the Maldives. Argat is the owner of JOALI Being, a luxury wellbeing retreat that takes holistic wellness to new highs.

1) Love & Protect Our Marine Life

The Olive Ridley Project at JOALI Being is on a mission to protect sea turtles and their habitats through rescue and rehabilitation of injured sea turtles, education and outreach, and scientific research.
Six of the seven remaining species of sea turtles can be found in the Indian Ocean: green, hawksbill, olive ridley, loggerhead, leatherback and the flatback.
Two turtle restoration tanks will be housed at JOALI BEING, one of only three locations in the Maldives.

2) Sustainable Gastronomy

An Organic Garden with homegrown herbs, which helps to reduce transportation miles, carbon emissions, non-use of chemicals or pesticides that can harm the environment, and packaging are all benefits of growing fresh produce, which can be served just a few hours after harvesting.
A-500 rocket composter to dispose all food wastage and sustainably create composter for the organic garden.
A variety of home-made culinary creations such as Nutella, tahini, jams, tofu, tempeh, plant-based milk, sambals, Koji, vegan cheese, pickles, granolas, vinegar, vegan mayonnaise and ketchup, cured meats such as mortadella, chicken sausages, beef and turkey, gelatin, kefir, nut butter, yoghurts, chocolates, cheese from unpasteurised milk, infused honey, miso, sake, tepache and fermented drinks.
A 360-approach of using vegetables, fruits and herbs: withered vegetables are pickled, whilst fruit peels are dehydrated for garnishes and herbs are infused to add flavours to oils.
Biodegradable garbage bags, packing containers and plastic containers are replaced with glass jars to avoid plastic wastage. Silicon lids or natural wrappers such as banana leaf and areca leaf are used instead of plastic films.
Fish are locally sourced from fishermen from neighbouring islands, ensuring that they are adhering to sustainable fishing practices.

3) Zero Waste Encourage Guests of Conscious Decision-Making

Broken glasses are used recycled by a glass crusher.
Trash bins are segregated.
We avoid single-use plastic such as our keycards are wooden, personal-use amenities are wooden and wrapped in recycled paper, whilst we use refillable ceramic jars for lotion, shampoo, and conditioners. In the Wellbeing Bar, sweets, savouries, and tea bags are also packed in glass jars.
Coffee capsules in the villas are 100% biodegradable.
All our plastic waste is separated and sent to PARLEY, a non-profit organisation built to protect the ocean to sustainably recycle.
To align our efforts in the creation of Zero Waste in our operations by ensuring that we work with our suppliers and vendors to reduce the packaging of products and goods.
At JOALI BEING guests have a retreat uniform available for use throughout the stay along with thoughtful personal use amenities.

4) Energy & Water Efficiency

At JOALI BEING, we believe in saving energy; hence we have invested in the latest building management systems, with sophisticated automation and integration, enabling efficient controlling, tracking and monitoring of energy and water consumption throughout the island.
This includes the Sewage Treatment System recycling greywater for irrigation of the whole resort, which we use a drip irrigation technology, saving time and water. In addition, we use BioGuy to remove biological wastes sustainably, such as eliminating unnecessary waste like grease through biodegradation.
Centralised air-conditioning systems are installed in public areas whilst in the villas, smart air-conditioning with sensors automatically switches off when doors are open, resulting in lower carbon footprints.
The island retreat is lit up with energy-efficient LED light with centralised automation designed to dim and brighten.
Guests can participate in our sustainable laundry efforts by requesting to reuse linen and towels as our policy is to refresh daily.

5) Stay At A Luxury Eco-friendly Resort That Adheres Strictly To EarthCheck

Choosing to stay at a resort devoted to responsible luxury and adhering to EarthCheck is important under the threaten of global warming to the Maldives, it will bring travellers onto a sustainable journey to learn more about preserving our precious planet.
JOALI has been dedicating a huge effort to various sustainable initiatives adhering to the standard of EarthCheck, the world’s leading business advisory group specialising in sustainability for the tourism industry in 10 different areas such as energy and water consumption, total waste production and community commitment, joining hands with the community and guests for a greener tomorrow.

All imagery is provided by JOALI Being.