An environmentally-friendly cruise ship – is it really a possibility? The question certainly piqued my curiosity recently while cruising on Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas.

I mean we’ve all heard the gossip, right? That cruise lines dump stuff overboard. Face it, environmentally speaking, cruise ships are unlikely to appear on any greenie’s top ten list. But in all fairness, up until a few years ago most people gave little thought to cruise line responsibilities. Generally the feeling was: the ocean is so enormous, what harm could a few thousand pounds of trash do?

But today, people have wizened-up about environmental issues after seeing the results of our neglect and abuse of Mother Earth. Overall, we’re questioning policies and practices of organizations across the board. Cruise ships are no exception. I was fortunate to talk with Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas Environmental Officer, John Marshall, who told me the cruise line, and specifically his ship, Liberty of the Seas, is currently making some major changes. More ocean friendly innovations and procedures are in place and others are coming down the pipe. John was gracious enough to let me see the actual recycling area in the belly of the ship as well, for which I am grateful. My interview with him follows.

Me: You told me that you had been in the Royal Marines for 22 years, but how did you become an Environmental Officer for Royal Caribbean?

John: Originally I entered the company as a Security Officer for 1 year. Then I served as a Safety Officer for 4 years before becoming an Environmental Officer. I was interested in the environment. I have always been interested in the natural world and sciences.

Me: Tell me a little bit about Royal Caribbean’s decision to be more ocean/earth friendly.

John: About 10 years ago Royal Caribbean had to make an environmental choice due to costs: Work on producing clean water for the ship and for returning to the ocean, or work on emissions from the boat. They choose to work on the water problems first. It costs millions for the water treatment alone. This year we have trials on equipment to reduce emissions from the stack. The company has invested millions and continues to invest in this cutting edge technology.

Me: Can you give me a rundown on the water treatment processes?

John: Liberty works under the premise that every guest uses approx. 50 gallons of water a day. The dirty water is treated in the AWP (Advanced Wastewater Purification system) which uses a biological reactor to eat the waste. The waste from the bacteria is then extracted from the water. Biowaste – once it’s dried looks like soil; the biowaste is then burned in the environmentally friendly incinerators. At the end of the process there is ash from the burned biowaste and clean water to the highest standards of land-based treatment facilities. The Environmental Officer is responsible for testing the water every day to confirm it is reaching the required standards. “Waste” that is discharged to the sea on Royal Caribbean ships must be discharged at least 12 miles from shore. Most do at least 13 to make sure the rules are not broken. Waste in this context is clean water. The National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) sets the rules for anything entering the water from ships in US waters. Royal Caribbean goes above and beyond by following these rules wherever they travel in the world.

Me: There are signs all over the ship that refer to the Save the Waves program (more information listed below). Didn’t Liberty of the Seas win an environmental award?

John: Liberty was the 2008 Environmental Ship of the year in Royal Caribbean. They received money to donate to environmental issues: They gave $7500 to the “Trees for the Future” organization for use to plant trees in Haiti. Liberty also in a small way is planting their own trees by growing small trees onboard before replanting them in Labadee, Haiti, the company’s private destination. From the money Liberty received they also gave $7500 to sponsor a Blue Dragon (Blue Iguana) in Grand Cayman where the species dropped to only 20 specimens in 2002 but now is in recovery.

Me: About recycling. What do you collect and where do you keep it all?

John: A huge amount of what used to be garbage on board is now recycled. Items are kept in the garbage separation area of the ship – 4 rooms, along with various equipment to process the different items. We collect for recycling: paper, glass, cardboard, plastic, and metals and wiring to be recycled through Cozumel. Printer toners, electrical waste, batteries (separated into different types) are landed in Miami to certified vendors for recycling. For reuse and donation, everything from clothes to plastic pails for water carriers, wood from packing boxes, even beds, pillows and bedding. Photo waste from developing pictures is checked for silver contamination and Ph to confirm it is not hazardous waste and if confirmed okay is added to oily sludge which is off loaded from the ship and recycled by the vendor.

The cold room contains Black Water residuals which are periodically taken out of the bottom of the sewage tanks; also, cooking oil, waste paint and thinners, biohazard sharps, food contaminated waste and crushed aluminum and tin cans, to stop growth of bacteria and flies. Bundles of general garbage, incinerator ash and recyclables are stored in what is known as the ash room.

Me: You said you have, (what is now a funny story), about one of your first recycling attempts.

John: Liberty opened the port of Cozumel (Mexico) to recycling. The first landing was of 3 bags of recyclables to check if the operation was safe. Unfortunately, nobody spoke to the environmentalist in Cozumel beforehand. In Sept 2007 when they dropped off the stuff, it looked to the Cozumel environmentalist like Royal Caribbean was simply dumping garbage there – because the local environmentalists were not in on the operation there was no one to do the PR on the other end. The papers picked up the story and had pictures of me and the company which looked like we were dumping garbage. It took 15 months of red tape, education and presentations before Royal Caribbean was able to restart the operation. Liberty now uses Cozumel as its main recycling hub.

Me: Does Royal Caribbean make money or lose money from recycling? Can you give me some examples?

John: It used to cost the ships $250 to send their cooking oil ashore in Miami. Then a vendor offered to take the cooking oil for free in San Juan, but finally someone figured out that cooking oil can be used to make bio diesel as well as be added to animal feed, etc. Now we have a vendor who is willing to pay for the cooking oil in St Maarten. We are awaiting trials on this. We also get 100% back for the aluminum collected which is put into the crew welfare fund.

Me: How do you keep track of your recycling efforts?

John: Every 2 weeks we take off the recyclables. At this time everything is “logged in” by the ship as garbage, even though it is recycled goods, in the required garbage record book; but each ship logs all landings in a spread sheet so we can see how much is being achieved in our efforts to recycle and reuse. The ship also donates anything it feels is useful to Haiti, from packing case wood (what is not used is burned saving the local forest to a small extent) to plastic containers to carry water and clothes and shoes from leaving crew.

Me: I noticed signs such as those that encourage guests to conserve energy by keeping balcony doors shut and using towels more than once instead of having them cleaned every day. Also, separate bins are available on board for waste, plastic, paper. What are some other environmentally friendly things Royal Caribbean is doing on the Liberty?

John: As soon as the Liberty left the yard the ship did research on how to reduce energy consumption, from light bulbs for instance. Now most of the bulbs are energy saving bulbs. And they have a light bulb smasher that not only breaks down the glass, but filters out the mercury as well. The solar lights that are used on the balconies are more of an environmental awareness item because although they work pretty well, the salty air corrodes them over time.

Me: I know I didn’t cover everything that Royal Caribbean and in particular The Liberty of the Seas is doing to recycle, reuse and reduce waste, but I think what you have told me will open the eyes of some people who didn’t realize the extent of the cruise line’s work in this area. Any final words?

John: Giving the guests the best vacations they can have so they come back along with promoting good environmental practices is in fact good business. Energy conservation, reducing fuel consumption and reducing garbage costs by increasing recycling is good environmentally and good for business. So, it is a win win situation.

Cruise ships aren’t environmentally perfect, yet. But they’re trying, and personally after talking with John, even my inner (skeptical) greenie-self was impressed.

Royal Caribbean’s Save the Waves Program 4 Key Principles

(http://www.royalcaribbean.com/ourCompany/environment/saveTheWaves.do)

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - Reduce the generation of waste material, reuse and recycle wherever possible, and properly dispose of remaining wastes.

Practice Pollution Prevention - Nothing may be thrown overboard. Nothing.

Go Above and Beyond Compliance (ABC) - means doing more than is required by regulations.

Continuous Improvement - Change is the only constant; innovation is encouraged and rewarded.