Çeşme Marina Makes Olive Oil, Gets Green Apple Award

　　Imagine a marina where you can not only dock, but also receive olive oil pressed from olives grown on site. Not only that, but those same olives are from purposely planted trees. It’s all part of daily life at Çeşme Marina in Turkey. And, it’s an approach that earned the marina a Green Apple Environmental Award, a prestigious honor.

　　The Green Apple Environmental Awards, now in their 23rd year, are from The Green Organisation. It’s a non-profit that promotes and recognizes eco-friendly practices globally. Çeşme Marina, managed by Camper & Nicholsons Marinas, will officially receive its award in September. For now, general manager Can Akaltan is more than happy. “I am very proud to state that we won this award when sustainability is becoming the key future challenge for the world,” he explains.

　　Situated in a natural harbor in the city of Çeşme, a popular summertime and holiday destination, Çeşme Marina is a short hop from Greece’s Chios and Lesbos islands. Even with restaurants and other services on site, its olive trees, and olive oil, are famous. “The aim of planting the olive trees at the marina has been to create wonderful flora and fauna within the marina environment for all to enjoy whilst visiting the estate,” Akaltan says. “Olive trees were the plant of choice due to their direct association with the Aegean region. We are pleased to showcase our national culture and natural produce from our country to our international and local visitors.”

　　Since Turkish law protects olive trees, the ones at Çeşme Marina will remain for years to come. Both local residents and marina guests enjoy watching the staff harvests the olives, done with great fanfare. The trees produce enough olives to ensure the local presser and bottler can produce enough to last a full year. The olive oil bears the marina’s own label (above), too. Even better, VIPs among Çeşme Marina’s guests get the olive oil as gifts.

　　Akaltan says he and his staff would especially like to see more companies follow in their footsteps. “We have proven that with a little time and money to buy the first few trees, you can create something enjoyable, sustainable, and memorable for all involved,” he asserts.