by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 3:45 PM ET, Tue April 10, 2018
Perhaps it's a fact that beachgoers everywhere still have not fully grasped: sunscreen containing oxybenzone is terribly harmful to coral reefs.
The chemical found in many sunscreens is one of many factors contributing to the bleaching of reefs around the globe and is particularly toxic for young coral, according to research done by US scientists.
One group of scientists found that oxybenzone and octinoxate could stunt the growth of baby corals and that oxybenzone was toxic to seven coral species in lab tests.
Yet another study found that oxybenzone is likely to cause coral bleaching both in the lab and in the wild in several tropical regions.
A hotel company in Hawaii is seeking to tackle this problem, at least as much as one company can.
The Aqua-Aston hotel group is leading the way in Hawaii by giving out free eco-friendly sunscreen to its guests at its 40 properties across the state. Aqua-Aston hotels host about 5.5 million people annually in Hawaii. The hotel has also installed sunscreen dispensers at all of its properties.
The hotel company began planning its "Reef Safe" public awareness initiative in 2016, after the latest spate of news about the global coral bleaching epidemic, Theresa van Greunen, the hotel's director of public relations, told TravelPulse.
"We learned that coral bleaching is occurring especially in areas popular with tourists, in part, because of pollution - especially from sunscreen containing the chemicals oxybenzone and octinoxate," van Greunen said. "We recognized that we have a powerful opportunity, and an enormous responsibility, to help protect and preserve the natural environment that our guests come here to enjoy."
To date, Aqua-Aston has provided the community, visitors and hotel guests with more than 40,000 samples of reef-safe sunscreen as part of a much larger effort to protect the ocean. Aqua-Aston is also providing guests, free of charge, with reusable shopping bags and reusable water bottles (far too much plastic ends up in the ocean each year as well thanks to single-use plastic water bottles and bags).
"The Reef Safe campaign is the cornerstone of our environmental stewardship efforts, but is not the only aspect, we are also helping to eliminate single-use plastics from our hotels by providing guests with reusable water bottles and canvas tote bags, reducing our waste and energy consumption, recycling, serving sustainable food in our restaurants, eliminating plastic straws and using only biodegradable food containers," said van Greunen. "We encourage all of our hotels and resorts to adopt the principles of Green Business."
Aqua-Aston's efforts appear to be having an impact. The Waikiki Aquarium is following the hotel group's lead and has installed similar reef-friendly sunscreen dispensers for the public use. The aquarium is also sending experts to Aqua-Aston hotels to speak about the dangers of coral bleaching.
The state of Hawaii is also considering taking its own action with regard to sunscreens containing coral bleaching chemicals, according to Popular Science. A bill has been proposed by Hawaii state senator Will Espero that would ban the sale of sunscreens containing oxybenzone throughout the state.
The preservation of coral reefs is incredibly important to Hawaii's tourism industry. The waters surrounding the eight islands that make up the state contain 410,000 acres of living coral reefs. What's more, because of the geographic location of the islands, these reefs support unique life.
Hawaii is leading the way protecting the ocean on yet another front as well.
The state is pioneering the "Nets to Energy Program." The program, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) involves gathering the fishing nets and gear that ends up in the ocean around the Hawaiian islands, causing extensive damage to ecosystems and coral reefs and entangling wildlife. Through the unique effort, the marine debris is being turned into usable electricity.
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