The United Arab Emirates is home to four casinos nationwide, a modest number compared to the thousand or more in the United States, but an industry nonetheless. The success and popularity of the casino industry, combined with the modern mindset of environmentally-thoughtful living, casinos have begun to find ways to reduce their carbon footprint. Of all of the ways this is being looked at, casino cruises – cruise ships with a casino as their main attraction – have come under scrutiny for environmental impact. Thankfully, there’s a great number of ways that casino cruises and cruises in general are working to lower their carbon footprint.
Running Greener
One of the greatest impacts that a cruise has is with heavy emissions. They are, after all, building-sized ocean faring ships, so a good bit of fuel goes into powering them. Certain cruise lines such as Holland America and Lindblad Expeditions work to lower their emissions and raise awareness of environmental impact. Many casino cruises are exploring ways they can keep the entertainment up and emissions down, such as taking fewer passengers or remaining close enough to the shore that the ship doesn’t need to travel the open ocean. Techniques such as these are helping to lower the impact of casino cruises and cruises in general.
Improved Wastewater Treatment
Casino cruises emit massive amounts of wastewater into the ocean but many lines are working hard on lowering this usage. A thankfully popular feature on many lines now is advanced wastewater treatment technology, which ensures that wastewater is treated properly so that it’s safe to be released at sea without impacting the environment. This helps to stop chemicals from destroying environments, as well as others from making some species bloom and strangle out others, such as increasing common algae blooms.
Cleaner Air Emissions
The smokestacks on a casino cruise can be a bit dangerous for the environment, but cruise lines are steadily working towards fixing this. Some lines have begun testing systems that use seawater to clean the smokestacks to decrease the air pollution. Cleaner smokestacks cut down on particles being released and extra energy being used, resulting in cleaner emissions all around. Many have also begun turning off the engines of ships in dock, switching to hydroelectric transformers instead.
Casino cruises and cruises in general are massive machines, so their impact can be quite palpable. Still, there’s been a great amount of effort towards being greener. While there’s still a good distance to go all around, casino cruises are making massive steps towards a greener future.