our commitment to sustainable practices at our Queenstown hostel
Help us care for our environment & community
We don’t want our region – or world for that matter – deteriorating quicker than it should. We are continually looking at our operation to find improvements, but we need you to help us achieve this by participating in our processes where possible while you stay!
Lighting – Every light fixture possible has been installed with LED energy-saving bulbs, and considering there’s a lot of them, that cuts down our energy consumption incredibly – we have also put notes around imploring our guests to consider turning lights and appliances off when they leave their room. Any bulbs that are not LED specific are either fluorescent or of an energy efficient nature. The lighting in our communal areas also switch off when nobody is in the rooms or hallways after hours.
Heating and Cooling – we removed the inefficient boiler heating system from the original premises and installed energy efficient heat-pumps in every room and communal area of the building. These are serviced every 6 months, and filters are cleaned monthly. Heat-pumps are an incredibly efficient source to both heat and cool indoor environments, and keeping them well maintained ensures no losses in efficiency.
Fridges and TV’s – The fridges & TV’s equipped throughout the hostel have good energy-efficiency ratings, and we remain conscious of checking rooms daily to ensure appliances, lighting and electrical switches are turned off if they are not required. We also regularly clean, check and replace fridge seals to ensure there are no losses efficiency.
Commercial Laundromat – Our self-service laundromat consists of some of the most energy-efficient machines in their class. Our next coming initiative will be to replace all hostel linen to a more environmentally option that is even more durable and does not require committing bleach to the environment for professional cleaning. We work closely with our suppliers to ensure our laundry cleaning products are as environmentally friendly as possible.
Plumbing and Water Conservation – Every toilet in the building is of a water-efficient nature with dual-flush capacity. All of our showers and hand basins also have water restricters on them – limiting their flow and wastage – but still guaranteeing our guests a perfect shower experience.
Guest Kitchen (equipment) – In the Kitchen we installed a grease-trap to limit harmful waste entering the waterways. We also installed an auto-Urn for keeping water at boiling temperature ready for use, rather than constantly heating up water for your tea or coffee – ensuring a more efficient use of electricity and guaranteeing on-demand boiling water for you. The kitchen fridges are of an energy efficient nature with glass doors – so you can see items without opening – and are well maintained with servicing and seal replacement every 6 months.
Guest Kitchen (consumables) – We also purchase all items such as coffee and spices in bulk to limit packaging, and we endeavour to find products that are packaged with environmental consciousness (glass or cardboard). You’ll also notice in the kitchen is a bin sponsored by our friends at Sea Shepherd, dedicated to re-useable bags for grocery shopping. This ensures re-useable bags are available for you to take grocery shopping and return once you’re done.
Housekeeping – Our housekeepers use re-useable gloves, reusable cloths and minimal amounts of garbage bags to limit our plastic footprint. We use eco-friendly cleaning products where possible to ensure no unnecessary harmful chemicals are put into our waterways. We are minimising single-use plastics in multiple ways as well – our dual ply toilet paper is from recycled material, and is delivered in cardboard rather than plastic. This is the same for all of the products you as a guest are likely to use, such as the guest soap that is supplied in en suites.
We are also phasing out the soap dispensers we currently use that utilise a plastic bladder, in favour of a refillable option that does not need a bladder. And we all know recycling goes a long way to conserving the planet – We do our best to do so by providing recycling-specific, bagless, bins on the premises for glass, plastics and paper.
But we still need your help!
If you’re staying with us, please consider the ways in which you interact with our home inside and outside the hostel.
You can do small things like turning off lights and appliances when you leave you room, help us ensure a contamination-free recycling situation by disposing of your items consciously, and use our re-usable bags when you go grocery shopping.
You can also tread lightly when you’re out enjoying the NZ environment.
Leave no trace by taking all items with you at all times, consider your purchases to limit your wastage, use our public transport systems instead of a personal vehicle, and consider picking up any trash you might see on your walks and experiences.
Your effort makes a difference, and we appreciate you for helping!
