I was in Porto Santo for the first time in September 2020 and, before travelling there, I decided to look into the island a little. To my surprise and delight, I found out there is a MAJOR sustainability project known as “Porto Santo Sustentável”. Did you know about it?
A peaceful place with golden sand, its aim is to become the first island designated a “Smart Fossil Free island”. It is an enormous transformation and, like any project, it happens in phases, one of the most essential and most challenging being to have most of the island’s electricity come from renewable sources. The island has a single wind turbine, which was responsible for 4% of Porto Santo’s energy in 2018. There is something faintly comic about seeing one lone turbine, but it has undoubtedly delivered a good result for the island.
The island is without question seen as a laboratory for sustainable opportunities, where initiatives and projects such as “Porto Santo Sustentável” become significant and an example to follow.
With tourism as one of the main engines of Porto Santo’s economy, and the island’s population quadrupling in summer (there are little more than 5,000 inhabitants), the worsening effects of climate change have to be taken into account. To that end, another initiative announced as part of the project was support for buying electric cars, so that in partnership with other companies the regional government can manage the demands on the electricity grid and on each vehicle.
It would be genuinely wonderful to know the results this project is having, Porto Santo would become a role model, an example to follow.
In my opinion it matters more than ever to travel consciously and to reflect on the impact our actions and our trips can have. So here is the tip: whenever you think about travelling, look for options that protect the environment and are socially responsible.
