Environmental impacts from operating a business are greater in the long-term than the building alone, as these impacts are continuous. We therefore strive to address the issue in all areas of the operation including food and beverage, cleaning and housekeeping, transportation, storage, purchasing, supplies, office and even marketing materials and marketing approach.

Actions include:

• constant monitoring of appliances and resource use (power, water, waste produced) > this helps to identify areas of waste and potential savings and ensures that systems are working optimally,
• maintenance plans which help reduce waste and repairs > time intensive, but cuts down on unexpected repair costs,
• continuously looking for and implementing improvements in all areas* > since commencing operations in 2000 our utility costs are still the same (less than 1.5 % of operating costs), despite increasing occupancy and energy costs. This includes all power, heating, hot water, laundry, cooking, refrigeration, etc...
• applying the 4 R's (refuse, reduce, re-use, re-cycle),
• using environmentally friendly cleaning agents, stains, paints, etc.
• making purchasing decisions based on environmental impact and product quality, rather than price > a product which costs 25% more but lasts twice as long is generally more economical with a lower environmental cost overall,
• including organic, fair-trade and locally grown produce where feasible,
• interaction with guests to reduce impact outside of our premises,
• marketing to a visitor segment which does not put unnecessary pressure on the area,
• partnering with tourism suppliers who share our concern for the environment.

We invite and appreciate guest feedback on our actions and are always looking for new ideas for improving processes or sourcing materials – Let's hear it!?

* a past energy audit of all our appliances showed that the freezer we were using was not operating to specs. The difference in power used compared to what it was supposed to use, amounted to almost 10% of our power consumption! The cost and time invested in this review – which resulted in other improvements – was well worth it!

Important Observation: Monitoring our energy / resource use and savings over the years has shown an interesting pattern, in that only 1/3 of our savings are derived from technical innovation and improvements, whereas 2/3 stems from operational changes, avoiding wasteful habits and using energy / resources more wisely.

Technological improvements would include items such as solar power generation, energy efficient appliances and lighting, water saving showerheads, etc., which is what everyone is talking about and which costs money to implement, one way or another. Operational and habit changes include turning off unused appliances and phantom loads, turning lights off when not in use, turning down the heat in unused rooms, not wasting power to toast bread and iron the laundry, hanging laundry outside or inside to dry rather than using a dryer, taking shorter showers, reducing hot water use, doing the laundry on days when we produce power from the sun, etc. etc.. All of these measures are easy, cost nothing and can be done by everyone, all the time, no matter where you are. The obvious conclusion is that we will not reverse climate change and resource waste with technological advances but much more so by changing our mentality, wasteful habits and consumerism...