our JOURNEY SO FAR
The beating heart of our environment once you reach the Lodge is our wetland. Regenerating the Awaroa wetland started in 2005 and continues to flourish and develop. For more background on the history of Awaroa Lodge click here.
Today, the wetland is home to an array of native wildlife including Pateke, released in 2019 and 2020 in conjunction with Project Janszoon and the Department of Conservation. Read more about this here.
In the 2020 season, we were lucky enough to have a white heron/kōtuku visit the wetlands; a sight which hadn’t been seen for a number of years. The wetlands are also home to a resident population of tame eels - a delight for the younger visitors!
AWAROA BEACH, THE PEOPLE’S BEACH
Awaroa beach has become known as ‘The People’s Beach’ having been purchased by a crowd-funding campaign for the enjoyment of all New Zealanders (read about it here) and to prevent it falling into private hands. This stretch of sand is one of our favourite places to hang out and is the ‘welcome mat’ for our guests disembarking their water taxi before they walk up to the Lodge, which means that everyday is beach clean-up day at Awaroa.
THE WHOLE TEAM GETS INVOLVED
The entire Lodge team take the health of our wetland, beaches and all other land very seriously and we work closely with DOC to ensure that we are all doing our best to protect and enhance this precious area. Work never stops to improve and restore the natural qualities of our little piece of Awaroa.
During the Lodge opening season we allocate time for staff to monitor the property and wider area for litter.
After every storm the beach and tidal areas are checked for damage and any unwanted rubbish is removed.
Our housekeeping team use eco-friendly cleaning products throughout the Lodge which are sceptic tank and grey water safe. Our location on the edge of a Marine Reserve and National Park make considering what we flush away very important.
WORKING ALONGSIDE OUR COMMUNITY
We work closely with other business’ and with residents in Awaroa on various environmental projects. Currently we are in talks about a large extension to the current pest trapping network.
Community groups are also focusing on weed eradication as well as walking pests such as stoats, weasels, possums and rats.
There is a strong local commitment to restoring the natural environment in the area and the Lodge is proactively working with our partners toward this goal.
We also support a number of local charitable groups who have a community, educational or environmental focus such as Project Janszoon, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Golden Bay High School, Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter, Mapua School.
ENCOURAGING OUR GUESTS TO JOIN US ON THE JOURNEY
We aim to educate visitors to the lodge about our natural environment. Signage is placed around the property to bring attention to local flora and fauna. Our team are educated on the natural assets of the property and are willing and able to share this information with visitors.
Awaroa Lodge is home to a local kayak guiding company, Awaroa Sea Kayaks. A business with education and environmentalism at its heart, ASK provides a wonderful half day tour for those wishing to explore the local coastline and learn about its history.
SUPPORTING LOCAL
Buying local and growing our own, are both major steps in reducing waste. There is a lot of change happening in production of goods within New Zealand and with a move toward sustainability and waste reduction.
We aim to support producers with those principals at their heart. We support local. Buying where possible from local producers and giving back financially to the community where we can.
Examples of some of the local producers that we work with are:
Chia Sisters – Nelson based producers of soft drinks, proudly solar powered and zero carbon.
Hop Federation brewery
Our wine list is almost entirely local and 100% New Zealand based.
We source cheese, ice cream, chocolate, chips and peanut butter from the top of the south.
Royce McGlashen – a Nelson based potter who has made some of our restaurant crockery. We also have Royce’s work for sale in our retail store along with Darryl Frost’s amazing sinkers and various other local crafts.
SUSTAINABLE CLEANING & PERSONAL CARE
At Awaroa Lodge – when it comes to balancing health and hygiene with caring for our planet, we take the responsibility very seriously. So we’re committed to using ecostore’s gentle, eco-friendly personal care in guest rooms and effective cleaning products throughout the Lodge. Ecostore has an impressive list of eco credentials, but those that stand out to us are:
• Plant and mineral based products formulated using the precautionary principle – if there’s any doubt about an ingredient’s safety, ecostore will look for another one.
• They’re made in New Zealand at ecostore’s own carboNZero factory, to stringent safety and sustainability standards.
• Products are suitable for grey water and septic tank systems – and we’re extremely careful about what goes down the drain.
• Ecostore is a B Corp™, so we know they’re truly committed to using their business to make the world a better place.
• We can even return the sugar and recycled plastic mix bottles when they’re empty, and ecostore will remake them into new ones.
TIAKI PROMISE
At Awaroa Lodge we have taken the commitment to support the Tiaki Promise.
“Tiaki means to care for people and place. New Zealand is precious, and everyone who lives and travels here has a responsibility to look after it. The Tiaki Promise is a commitment to care for New Zealand, for now and for future generations. By following the Tiaki Promise, we are making a commitment to New Zealand. To act as a guardian, protecting and preserving our home”. https://tiakinewzealand.com/
We encourage our guests and suppliers to join us in making this commitment.
BEING OUR OWN PRODUCERS
Our organic gardens are growing. After recommencing work on the lodge gardens in 2019, we are looking this season to add several additional garden beds to the current growing program. We aim to replace most herbs, micro-greens and other specialty crops that we have been buying in, with produce grown on site. Our chefs and gardener work closely together with an aim that every plate have at least one ingredient from the lodge gardens.
REDUCE & RE-USE
Our remote location doesn’t necessarily mean that everything that comes in by boat has to go out by boat! Keeping as much of our waste on site to recycle or compost is key. Our maintenance team are masters at re-purposing and repairing. Some of the regular steps we take are:
We compost food waste to be returned to the gardens. Our coffee waste goes to the same purpose.
Where possible we crush all glass waste for use on the property. It serves as a useful material in our pathways and in some building projects. What cannot be used is sent away for recycling.
Adding cardboard to the gardens serves as a great method of suppressing weeds and keeping moisture in the garden beds. We work with suppliers to move our supplies away from cardboard and plastic and into bins that can be refilled and returned for repeat usage and remove the need for boxes, where possible.
When purchasing cleaning products and guest amenities we avoid all chemicals and look for natural products. We try to work with companies that have minimal or recycled packaging solutions either in place or under development.
WORKING TO REDUCE OUR ENERGY CONSUMPTION
& OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT
Awaroa Lodge is located within 20 hectares of regenerating native bush, which encompasses a large wetland so powering the site is not as easy as plugging into the national grid.
Currently most of our power for the site is generated on site via diesel generators and we are constantly investigating better ways of making this happen. While we do this we are working on as many other energy conserving solutions as we can:
We have replaced all fridge units with low energy products.
We are installing LED lighting to replace old lights as they fail.
We have a ‘switch it off if it’s not being used’ policy with lights and electrical equipment in our staff quarters and on site during the winter period.
Our staff live on site so do not have to take transport to travel to work each day and many of our customers arrive on foot.
It is important to us to acknowledge that we are using diesel for the majority of our current power generation due to lack of a genuinely workable and sustainable solution so far. This does not mean however that we are not continually seeking ways to change this.
We continue to seek to move toward a zero-carbon footprint and toward increasing the use of options such as solar generation.
