Can sustainable tourism stop the melting of the glacier in Switzerland?

In the picturesque Grindelwald in Switzerland, almost every discussion about sustainable tourism begins and ends with a glacier.

The Great Aletsch Glacier is the most important glacier within the Alps and stretches over 80 square kilometers of jagged granite mountains. And it’s melting.

In the terminal of the brand new Eiger Express, a gondola that travels to the historic cog railway, there’s an image of the Aletsch Mountains from 1850 and one other from today. In the nineteenth century, the glacier covered many of the valley, but today it has retreated to the highest of the mountain.

The black and white images are a stark reminder of how much Grindelwald has already lost – and the way urgent it’s to turn out to be sustainable.

“Sustainability is part of what we do – and actually it has always been part of what we have done,” says Kathrin Naegeli, a spokeswoman for Jungfrau Railwayswhich operates the local trains and cable cars.

As early as 1908, 4 years before the completion of the last stage of the railway to the famous Jungfraujoch, the corporate built a hydroelectric power station within the nearby Lütschental to produce the brand new railway with green electricity. Today, the newly renovated power station with two large turbines supplies trains, cable cars and ski lifts within the Jungfrau region, including those in and around Grindelwald, with electricity.

Grindelwald is striving to turn out to be certainly one of Switzerland’s most sustainable destinations. Some of the hotels are even going a step further with latest programs to encourage guests to take into consideration recycling and renewable energy. The village can be doing its best to place sustainability on the forefront while attempting to preserve its cultural heritage.

How does Grindelwald pursue sustainable tourism?

When you reside under a melting glacier, sustainability is important. And that is exactly what’s happening in Grindelwald.

Public transportation

Grindelwald strongly recommends that guests travel by train. When checking right into a Grindelwald hotel, reception will give you bus tickets to explore the town. Visitors can even purchase a Jungfrau Travel Pass, which allows unlimited travel on all Jungfrau Railways adventure mountains.

recycling

Like other Swiss towns, Grindelwald has strict waste management policies, including recycling programs and efforts to scale back single-use plastics. Hotels encourage their guests to take part in these initiatives.

Controlled development

The village strictly regulates latest construction to preserve its alpine character and forestall overdevelopment. Ownership of second homes is restricted and latest projects resembling the renovation of the Grindelwald-First gondola planned for 2030 must undergo rigorous public scrutiny. Even sustainable projects resembling a planned solar park aren’t robotically approved.

But spend a while in Grindelwald and one can find that the commitment to sustainability goes much deeper.

Surpass yourself within the mountains of Grindelwald

New hotel projects often attempt to exceed the usual for sustainability. For example, the Grindelwald Mountainsa brand new luxury hotel, was built to the best sustainability standards, says managing director Tanja Münker. But that hasn’t stopped it from aiming even higher. It has just reached an elusive IBEX certificationwhich she describes as a rigorous 360-degree review of sustainability practices.

“As a result of the review, we will launch a program to reduce food waste in September,” says Münker.

There are other advantages too. As only the second hotel in Grindelwald to be IBEX certified, it should have a bonus for some meetings and incentive groups. Meeting planners often prefer hotels with well-developed sustainability plans.

She says a part of the hotel’s mission is to remind guests of the importance of sustainability, beyond free bus passes and the obligatory notices within the bathrooms to reuse towels. Münker says the spectacular Alpine scenery takes care of the remaining. When people see the great thing about the mountains, they understand how fragile they’re. They get it.

Climbing First Mountain, a reminder of what has been lost

Just across the corner from the Grindelwald mountain world there’s a cable automotive that takes you to the highest of First Mountain. This is the side of the mountain that gets essentially the most sun initially of the ski season and as you climb you may see the famous Eiger, Schreckhorn, Wetterhorn and Fiescherlücke with the lower Grindelwald glacier.

Sandra Kaiser, an area guide, fastidiously explores each glacier.

“My parents can remember a time when the glaciers reached down there,” she says, pointing to about halfway up the mountain. “Now they’re up there,” she adds, looking toward the highest of the mountain where the glaciers now abruptly end.

Climate change is the very last thing you desire to take into consideration if you’re at First Mountain. There are mountain bike rentals, ziplining and a spectacular hike to Bachalpsee.

But anyone who has ever checked out the “before and after” pictures of the Aletsch Glacier within the terminal cannot help but mourn how much now we have lost resulting from climate change and the way long it should take until all of the glaciers have disappeared.

There are efforts to reverse this process or not less than slow it down. But even in Switzerland, resources are limited.

Construction of a brand new thermal power plant

Grindelwald is doing its best, say tourism officials. Melanie Trummer, product manager at Grindelwald Tourism, says the municipality’s most notable sustainability project is a wood-fired thermal power plant. It uses a process that converts the wood into lean gas, making it much closer to actually carbon-neutral energy. It is the primary thermal power plant in Switzerland to make use of a full de-steaming process, including heat recovery and combustion air treatment.

CO2-neutral heat energy is generated by burning wood chips, sawmill residues and other wood waste from the region. From there, long-distance pipelines connect businesses and households to the facility plant.

“This means that 100 percent of their energy needs for heating and hot water can be covered,” she says.

Together with the brand new solar park planned by Jungfrau Railways and a more energy-efficient cable automotive to First, which is to be in-built five years, this represents an infinite effort for a small travel destination like Grindelwald.

But is it enough?

Can Grindelwald save its glaciers?

The glaciers of Grindelwald are incomparably beautiful. Even on a snowy day, visitors from the summit of Jungfraujoch, Europe’s highest railway station, seemed mesmerized by the huge ice flowing through the alpine gorge. No wonder it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and other people wish to preserve it.

But will hydropower, a food waste program or a solar farm really make a difference? When it involves tourism and sustainability, that is the lingering query. Why hassle when there are coal-fired power plants downwind and sustainability is only a marketing gimmick?

The Swiss, and particularly the people of Grindelwald, see their beloved glaciers receding just a little annually and are due to this fact spurred to motion. They are doing the whole lot of their power to preserve their heritage, although they know it should not be enough.

A special sustainability requirement applies to visitors: they arrive to Grindelwald by bus to see the glacier while it still exists.