WĀNAKA HOTEL
Sustainbility
We recently achieved the Qualmark Silver Sustainable Tourism Business Award. The criteria for the Sustainable Tourism Award aligns with many of our existing practices and values, so we are pleased to gain this stamp of approval from New Zealand tourism’s official mark of quality.
Qualmark aims to acknowledge high-performing businesses that are delivering a holistic, mindful and sustainable approach. The four key areas focused on include:
We have Gold in our sights and are working towards this next level.
Our cleaning team do not use any chemicals. Our goal was to be kind to the environment and at the same time kind to our staff. Initiating this change was simple.
We do not use single use plastic bags; this means no unnecessary bin liners or rubbish sacks. This has also been a simple change; our cleaning team manages this simply and easily. Single use plastic bags were an unnecessary addition in our business.
We work with a company called Beyond Skin Deep to turn our empty bottles into fence posts. We not only reduce our landfill waste but we also give the material a second life as fence posts for farms and wineries. These fence posts are high quality and last a long time.
Here at the Wanaka Hotel we are a tight-knit team. Collectively we have worked here for over 200 years. We take care of one another and we have some proactive initiatives in place to keep us safe and well. We are mindful of the physical nature of many tasks involved with keeping our hotel operations so we sought out advice on how to keep our team strong. We work with The Physio Room here in Wanaka who deliver customised sessions for our team to ensure the correct movements while lifting, cleaning and moving furniture. We continually look for ways to keep our staff healthy and happy.
At the Wanaka Hotel, we are proud to announce our significant step towards sustainability by installing fifty solar panels on our roof. Partnering with Wanaka Solar, we have transitioned from an outdated diesel heating system to modern electric heat pumps powered by solar energy. This move not only significantly reduces our energy bills but also aligns with our long-standing commitment to eco-friendly practices. We are dedicated to a greener future, extending our efforts beyond energy to eliminate single-use plastics, recycle plastic bottles into fence posts, and use environmentally friendly cleaning products. These initiatives underscore our commitment to minimising our environmental impact and leading by example in sustainable hospitality.
As of 29 May 2024 our CO2 emission savings are:
19.62 t
Which is equivalent to:
19.62 t
78,729 km
