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The world’s first ‘green’ airport – Baltra Airport is opened for business on Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands. The ECO-airport is entirely powered by sun and wind. In addition, 80% of its infrastructure was made from material recycled from the previous airport.
The airport, which opened in 2012, has been awarded the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certificate for sustainable construction. On the other hand, the islands were recently named as the best in the world by readers of a leading travel magazine and despite being nearly 600 miles from the coast of Ecuador, they are on the bucket lists of many travelers.
“The main thing is that it is a sustainable building, a public building that can balance technology and comfort for passengers without polluting the environment,” said airport manager Jorge Rocillo. “This is basically the legacy we want to give,” he added.
The ECO-airport has been welcomed by environmentalists, who have been sounding the alarm in recent years about the threat of booming tourism to the fragile ecosystem.
Source: dailymail