“Verde que te quiero verde, verde viento, verdes ramas” the poet Federico García Lorca sang, “green I love you green, green wind, green branches”. Mallorca is abundant with lush greens in spring, a colour, together with blue, that adds to the beauty of the islands golden landscapes and coastline. Mallorca, being green-at-heart and has not hesitated to jump on the sustainability bandwagon, to opt for a management model that is much more respectful of the environment. The objective is clear: to make Mallorca a greener, cleaner and more eco-friendly island. Today, sustainability is a common word on the island, and it is increasingly present in everyone’s conscience.
1. Use and reuse
Swap your single-use plastic packaging for ecological alternatives. For example, instead of buying plastic bottled water, carry a stainless steel water bottle. The local organisation Cleanwave sells bottles that can be refilled at points around the island including at public drinking water fountains in Palma, provided in partnership with Emaya. Read more
2. Buy natural
Opt for natural or ecological groceries over the industrial or mass produced. Organic cultivation helps conserve biodiversity and avoids the use of harmful chemicals to produce healthier and more wholesome food. Read more
3. Buy local
By consuming local products, also known as Kilometre Zero, not only do you support Mallorcan farmers and benefit the local economy, but you also reduce energy consumption and emissions from transport. Read more
4. BYO Basket
Use a cotton tote or traditional basket for shopping. The wonderful senalla mallorquina is the perfect companion! Remember: a plastic bag can take a total of 500 years to decompose. Read more
5. Consume responsibly
Buy only what you really need and try not to waste unnecessarily. By reducing the demand for certain products we prevent the use of virgin resources. Read more
6. Garden
Create your own garden or green space. Don’t worry if you don’t have space to plant a tree, utilise a terrace, balcony, or window sill to nurture edible plants, flowers, or even a cactus. Make this planet greener!
7. Repair, reuse, reduce
Get creative instead of throwing stuff away, let your imagination run wild and make the most of your old clothes, furniture and objects. Expand your wardrobe and your home decoration in a surprising way.
8. Recycle
Use all the recycling containers at your disposal, separate clean paper and cardboard, glass, plastic and tin, and throw it in the appropriate container (blue, green, and yellow respectively). You not only reduce the generation of waste and the extraction of new raw materials, but you also contribute to the economy of recycling. Read more
9. Collaborate
Get active and collaborate with organisations such as Save the Med. Their program ‘Baleares sin plástico’, Balearics without plastic, is focused on reducing the negative impact of plastic on the marine ecosystems in the Balearic Islands.
10. Move Sustainably
Reduce the use of the car. Opt for walking, cycling or other non-polluting means of transport that will free us from unnecessary emissions.Mallorcans at all levels are participating in a race to safeguard the natural environment. Politicians and business-people are promoting measures including selective door-to-door waste collection in villages and optimising water consumption in hotels and golf courses. Investment of eco-tax into ecological projects is also important, such as saving the important underwater meadows of the seagrass Posidonia and restoring the 13th century walls of Alcúdia’s old town. However, we cannot ignore that we all need to start living more sustainably. Hopefully with these easy 10 steps to living more sustainably you can start to make a positive change to life here on Mallorca.
