Our mission in a NUT-SHELL
Tourism cannot ever be completely green or fully socially responsible, since each of us would negatively affect the environment in some way or the other.
Your hosts are all locals
Family is the centre of every sustainable developement
Sustainable Kitesurfing in Kalpitiya, Sri Lanka: Preserving Nature and Community
Tourism in Sri Lanka, particularly in Kalpitiya, faces challenges in being entirely green and socially responsible due to the potential negative impact each traveler may have on the environment. This is where sustainable initiatives like kitesurfing in Kalpitiya play a crucial role in preserving the natural, cultural, and social landscapes.
Our mission is to prioritize the development of the local economy and inclusivity in Kalpitiya. We achieve this by hiring and involving over 99% of area stakeholders in our business operations. Our strategy focuses on providing year-round income for team members and carefully selecting sustainable services using local resources. We aim to promote partnership-based tourism and support the Kalpitiya economy by avoiding non-regional foods (km0), gradually phasing out chicken from our offerings, and prioritizing soya products over meat.
To protect the natural beauty of our lagoon-front location, we have rejected traditional GRID electricity, opting for solar-powered lights to minimize diesel generator consumption. Our eco-friendly tourism efforts in Kalpitiya, renowned for its thrilling kitesurfing experiences, are in line with our commitment to preserving the environment and supporting the local community.
For more information on our sustainable kitesurfing experiences in Kalpitiya, Sri Lanka, please email us at contact@kalpitiya.info.
Ruuk Village goes Solar
Kalpitiya is still developing and still has a long way to go in the following areas.
Public electricity coverage is still limited
Kalpitiya is still developing and still has a long way to go in the following areas.
Public electricity coverage is still limited
Roads are still being constructed
Public water supply is still to be fully implemented
Ruuk Village had to find solutions to the above three obstacles, and we at Ruuk Village think that we have done pretty well finding solutions to cover the above. let me give a brief explanation as to, how we managed to find solutions to the above three obstacles.
The official road to Ruuk Village has a stretch of about 900m which is soft sand and only a 4x4 wheel can master this stretch. We decided to use our house boat to pickup our guests from the nearby fishing harbor (Thoradiya Jetty), and we managed to turn a weak point to strength. Our guests enjoys this short ride by boat to reach our village, they get a feeling of coming to and Island within an Island.
We have dug two tube wells which are connected to one water pump and we store the pumped water in to a 2000Liter water Tank on an elevated platform. This guarantees enough water pressure to the showers. Cabana's private showers allow our guest an experience of having a shower under the blue sky. This is a private shower experience just behind the Cabanas.
Since the beginning of the project (end of 2013), we have been using a Diesel generator to generate the needed electricity for a limited number of hours (18:00Hrs till 23:00hrs) per day. This was not the best solution and we started looking at all available options. And at last we decided to go for solar power. As a first step it shall only cover the needed power supply at least to a certain percentage.
Since May 2014 we have implemented the first phase of our "Ruuk Village Goes Solar" project with:
1 UPS unit
3 umbers of 80W solar panels
Deep cycle battery (12V-150Ah)
We are in the phase of studying the solution and if all goes well we will extend the capacity with a complete off-grid backup system, which shall replace the generator almost to 98%. Until we deploy a solar driven water pump. We will still need the Diesel driven generator to fill up our water tank. With the current solution we are able to cover the power need during sunlight hours completely (no heavy household items in use). We managed to reduce the usage of the generator to 2 hours from 5 hours daily.
Here are two short vine videos of the installation work done on site.
Part-I: https://vine.co/v/MD5PVVUTKKJ
Part-II: https://vine.co/v/MD5YHl1MLqn