An Assessment of Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions for day spa services in Eastern Thailand: A Case Study in Chonburi, Rayong, and Trad Provinces
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.sidebar##
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##
Abstract
Day spa services have become increasingly popular as people have become more interested in health and wellness due to a rapid increase in the older population, and also because the travel and tourism sectors are constantly offering these services. We conducted research to evaluate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of day spa services from twelve spas in three Eastern provinces in Thailand: Chonburi, Rayong, and Trad. The system boundary was from cradle to grave, starting from raw material acquisition, progressing to the spa service, and finishing with the waste disposal stage. The functional unit was one body spa package per person. The results showed that day spa services had GHG emissions of 5.76 kg CO2 eq/person (ranging from 3.54 to 9.69 kg CO2 eq/person). The net GHG emissions for each stage of the day spa services were as follows: service (84.70%), laundry (9.27%), waste disposal (5.82%) and transportation (0.22%). The service stage had the highest impact on overall GHG emissions, mostly due to electricity consumption from air conditioners and electrical equipment. Possible ways to reduce this service electricity usage included maintaining the air conditioners regularly, installing insulation in ceilings and walls, producing hot water either from solar or air conditioner sources, replacing incandescent bulbs with LED ones, and planting trees around the buildings. In addition, application of the 3R concept, (reduce, reuse and recycle), in the use of materials may not only help mitigate the emissions, but also minimize waste disposal, landfill, and the cost of excess resources used by day spa services.
Keywords: Life cycle assessment, Greenhouse gas emissions, Day spa, Spa service, Thailand
References
facts/2005/VirginiaAllard.shtml
Angwara. (2003). 40 Skin care recipes. Bangkok: Pailin Publisher.
Chantaburee, S. (2016). Opportunity and Competitiveness of Spa and Thai Massage Businesses in Thailand. Kasem Bundit Journal, 17(2), 49-63.
Curran, M. A. (2013). Life Cycle Assessment: a review of the methodology and its application to sustainability. Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering, 2(3), 273-277. doi: 10.1016/j.coche.2013.02.002
Dorfman, I. (2000). The Physics Factbook: Density Of Cooking Oil. Retrieved from https://hypertextbook.com
/facts/2000/IngaDorfman.shtml
DPT. (2008). Household electrical installation standards Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning (DPT). Retrieved from http://subsites.dpt.go.th/edocument/images/pdf/sd_work/MRT09
DTN. (2011). Business services : Spa & Thai massage. Department of Trade Negotiations (DTN), Thailand. Retrieved from https://www.dtn.go.th/files/94/Media/Mk/spa29-05-55.pdf
Gallant, J. (2012). Doing Physics with Scientific Notebook: A Problem Solving Approach. Hoboken: NJ John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Hoegh-Guldberg, O., Jacob, D., Taylor, M., Bindi, M., Brown, S., I. Camilloni, . . . Zhou, G. (2018). Impacts of 1.5ºC Global Warming on Natural and Human Systems. . Chapter 3: Impacts of 1.5°Cnof Global Warming on Natural and Human Systems. Retrieved from https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/
uploads/sites/2/2019/02/SR15_Chapter3_Low_Res.pdf
IPCC. (2007). IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007. 2.10.2 Direct Global Warming Potentials. Retrieved from https://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/ch2s2-10-2.html
Kongsuk, T. (2000). Natural herbs for beauty. Bangkok: Samit Publisher.
Maimun, T., Teekasap, S., Sareephattananon, A., & Rattanatai, B. (2018). Organization carbon footprint assessment of Eastern Asia university. EAU Heritage Journal Science and Technology, 12(2), 195-209.
Nave, C. R. (2017). Densities of Common Substances.Retrieved from http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/
hbase/hph.html
NSO. (2018). International Tourist Arrivals to Thailand: 2008-2017. NSO (National Statistical Office Thailand). Retrieved from http://statbbi.nso.go.th/staticreport/page/sector/th/17.aspx
PEA. (2016). Electricity knowledge: Electric power. Retrieved from https://www.pea.co.th
Pongchavalit, P. (2014). Assigning guidelines to reduce carbon footprint for domestic small and medium-sized hotel based on the assessment of the carbon footprint for organization (CFO) using Thailand greenhouse gas management organization (Public organization) standard. Retrieved from https://pdfs.
semanticscholar.org/2c90/ccb5c9abfbcab8299964a9f8724618d232c4.pdf
Pongsakornrungsilp, P. (2017). Tourism carbon footprints of the consumption in marine and beach destination: The case of koh Samui, Surattanee. Veridian E-Journal, Silpakorn University, 10(1), 1087-1102.
Prasara-A, J. (2012). Environmental Assessment of Thai Spa Industry. Journal of science and technology Mahasarakham University, 31(6), 770-780.
Rippon, S. (2015). University of Cape Town Carbon Footprint Report 2014. Retrieved from https://www.uct.
ac.za/sites/default/files/image_tool/images/328/explore/sustainability/reports/UCT_Carbon_Footprint_Report_2014.pdf
SMEs. (2006). Spa business. Bangkok: Jst publishing company limited.
Subtang, S. (n.d.). Mud treatment from kaolin. Retrieved from http://www.dss.go.th/rdcommercial/uploads/
315943535.76067.pdf
TGO. (2015a). Guideline for PCR “apparel made from textile”. THAILAND GREENHOUSE GAS MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION (PUBLIC ORGANIZATION). Retrieved from http://thaicarbon
label.tgo.or.th/products_rules/products_rules.pnc
TGO. (2015b). PCR “Accommodation Service”. THAILAND GREENHOUSE GAS MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION (PUBLIC ORGANIZATION). Retrieved from http://thaicarbonlabel.tgo.or.th/
products_rules/products_rules.pnc
TGO. (2016). Emission factor, Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (Public Organization). Retrieved from http://thaicarbonlabel.tgo.or.th/admin/uploadfiles/emission/ts_822ebb1ed5.pdf
Usubharatana, P., & Phungrussami, H. (2014). Carbon footprint of organization: Case study for thammasat university. Thai Journal of Science and Technology, 22(1), 1-12.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.