GO GREEN
Want to up your sustainable game while travelling? Here are seven ecoconscious ways to future-proof Aotearoa on your next getaway.
Hotel Britomart, Auckland
Māori Rock Carvings, Taupō © Todd Eyre
Taupō Eco-Boat
Taupō’s Ngatoroirangi Mine Bay Māori Rock Carvings – accessible only by boat – are one of the area’s biggest drawcards. Scaling the cliff 14 metres above Lake Taupō’s water, they are an extraordinary example of modern Māori artwork. Board a sustainable yacht in the Sail Barbary fleet and help preserve this special place for the future. Being 100 per cent electric powered, Barbary boats don’t emit any fumes, make zero noise and as for pollution, well, there isn’t any. 18 18
Nationwide DOC volunteering
The Department of Conservation calls out for enthusiastic volunteers yearround, with a diverse range of positions from one-day coastal clean ups to a full sixmonth shebang monitoring kiwi. Put your name forward to play hut warden for a week, spend a day planting shrubs, maintain the gardens of a heritage building or test your dexterity by repairing a water race. Simply keep your eye on the DOC website and turn this year’s holiday into a volunteering vacay. Families are welcome too.
We Love Love You YouNew NewZealand! Zealand!Spring Spring 2021 2021
Hotel Britomart is New Zealand’s first Green Star eco-hotel located in central Auckland and while guests are instantly privy to LED lighting and pillows made from recycled plastic bottles, what’s not so obvious is that this sustainability journey started from the ground up. Using environmentally friendly building materials, Green Star certification factored into every construction decision, right down to the placement of windows being strategically positioned (and double-glazed) so that extra, artificial light isn’t required until sunset. There are no single-use amenities in the bathroom and low water-flow systems limit water wastage. And for all those who want to maintain the green theme throughout their stay, the hotel has bikes too.
