Kuta, a tourist hotspot in Bali, was our final destination for the field school. Today we were very fortunate to gain an insight into sustainable tourism unique to our other experiences on the trip. Our group was convening mid-morning at the Potato Head Beach Club, a resort and club developed on sustainable principles. I began the day with a walk along the beach before late breakfast before getting on a motorcyle for a lift to the resort.
Upon reaching the resort gate my plastic water bottle was confiscated, and replaced with a voucher for a glass bottled water at the resort. I questioned the importance of this gesture at the time but later realised the resorts commitment to Recycle and Reuse meant that the plastic bottle would have been dealt with properly, something that was obviously a problem for the Indonesian environment in so many other places that we had visited. At the resort we met with the General Manager, Kim, who outlined the principles of the Potato Head organisation, a company with similar resorts in several countries across the world. Kim introduced us to Lena, the artist responsible for the Reuse art that greets you at the entrance and adorning the exterior wall of the Club. Lena’s work is based on reusing rubbish to create colourful sculptural artwork. Lena explained the process of her art which cleans the environment by taking waste that would otherwise litter the seas, beaches or landfill.
We than met the architect responsible for designing the 58 room luxury resort and beach club. Adi, explained the processes of using local workers and materials in the construction of the complex. The pavers and bricks were recycled glass mixed with clay and all materials were sourced locally, local artists had been commissioned to decorate rooms and the resort doubled as a training facility for employees in the hospitality industry. The most stunning use of recycled wooden window shutters to create a false exterior wall to the club which served as a climatically cool entry and notable aesthetic addition to the building. Adi showed us through the hotel which was significantly more comfortable than our hostel accommodation in the centre of town. From the rooftop we could see the next stage of a much larger hotel being constructed under the Potato Head banner and principles. The main cost of this development was to the natural environment that existed on the site of the construction as green space was razed to facilitate the construction. Within Kuta there did not seem to be a lot of natural green zones remaining, especially contrasted to Ubud.
After an extensive tour of the facilities we had a very enjoyable lunch and meeting to discuss our experiences and then were fortunate to make use of the Beach Club side of Potato Head. As the sun set that afternoon it felt like a very appropriate way to end what had been a very interesting, inspiring and exhausting 11 days in Indonesia.
Stuart's Sustainable Cities and Landscapes 