Sustainable Whakaipo Lodge
Sustainable tourism is on the radar for many travellers and a recognised megatrend with the green economy expected to reach over $6 trillion by 2030.
Sustainable tourism is on the radar for many travellers and a recognised megatrend with the green economy expected to reach over $6 trillion by 2030. Love Taupo Tourism and Tourism Industry Aotearoa invited us to take part in their first Sustainable Tourism Programme, with the aim of helping businesses to move towards regenerative tourism. We are well on the journey with Whakaipo Lodge being a climate positive business and Qualmark Gold certified, however the programme is providing food for thought with much more to do
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There are some inspirational participants in the programme. Check out MyNoke, who have diverted over 1 million tonnes of organic waste to high quality vermicast. Another participant who we loved was Lava Glass. They have moved to electric furnaces and set about offsetting by purchasing land and planting native trees, with a goal to offset their lifetime emissions. They are the first glass studio in the world to achieve net carbon zero status.
Meanwhile, at Whakaipo Lodge waste reduction through careful purchasing decisions using the sustainability hierarchy, has been a focus, as is reduction of energy consumption and conversion to more efficient, lower greenhouse gas inputs. We also grow some of what we consume and use in the lodge with many fruit trees and a vegetable garden. Ongoing planting and management of existing plantings has created a beautiful park-like environment. It also means that every year our trees sequester more carbon than we emit. We have our own small nursery with seedlings potted for planting out. Trendy stuff like photovoltaic solar is also in the plan.
We also have an active pest control programme. Garth hates pests and loves our native birds so going after rodents, possums, rabbits and other pests has become a bit of a passion. More traps are being built right now.
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By staying with us and Learning about the Tiaki Promise our visitors become part of this journey. We are Kaitiaki, caring for our
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place, our people and our culture. We share the Tiaki Promise at our place and on our website and it invariably becomes part of the conversation. If you have ideas about how we could do better we’d love to hear from you. It’s a journey. Until we meet again. Haere tu atu. Hoki tu mai.
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