Sustainability/Environmental policy
Welcome to our Sustainability / Environmental policy page.
Kaewa Tours are fully committed to sustainable tourism and are extremely proud to be one of 12 businesses to participate in the inaugural Wellington Sustainable Tourism Programme delivered by Tourism Industry Aotearoa and WellingtonNZ in 2021.
With the Hon Stuart Nash, Minister of Tourism receiving my Wellington Sustainable Tourism Programme certificate. November 2021.
A number of people have asked me why become fully involved in sustainability initiatives?
I say give me a reason why I shouldn’t. Our views are just because we don’t have any children that doesn’t mean we should not do anything for the future generations. We view this as our responsibility to do everything we possibly can, however small, to make this place a better place.
We live up to our Tiaki promise – to care for land, sea and nature, treading lightly and leaving no trace. The Tiaki Promise is a commitment to care for New Zealand, for now and for future generations. Learn more about the Tiaki Promise here.
Carbon offset:
We are Ekos accredited Carbon Friendly – we have offset our carbon emissions of 7.03 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide to 30 September 2021.
These offsets grow and protect forests in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands and help to deliver climate resilience, waterways protection, erosion control, biodiversity conservation and community economic development.
Our strategy and approach for 2022 is to move beyond our Carbon Friendly accreditation to become an EKOS Zero Carbon business by 30 September 2023.
Eliminating waste:
We don’t create much waste on a Kaewa Tour, however we like to keep our guests comfortable.
We now supply our guests water from For The Better Good. Their bottles are plant based which are fully compostable. Empty bottles are returned to an Urban Farm in Porirua where it takes around a month for 150-200 bottles (per compost bin) to fully break down. The remains of the bottles are returned to the garden as compost.
Plant based plastic water bottles from For The Better Good.
Jess and Tandia from Edible Earth-For The Better Good checking out the water bottles decomposing at the Urban Farm in Porirua.
Reusable coffee cups:
Rather than single use coffee cups that are not fully biodegradable we use reusable coffee cups from The Ideal Cup. Any effort on reducing landfill is a good impact!
We purchase Starship Children’s Hospital branded cups. For every cup purchased The Ideal Cup donate $10 to Starship Hospital. That’s a nice fit for us and we’re happy to be supporting such a great cause, and of course having a positive impact on the environment at the same time.
Our Starship branded reusable coffee cups from Ideal Cup.
Sustainable Procurement Policy:
Our ethos is “locals supporting like-minded locals”. We’ve made a conscious decision to support and partner with small family-owned businesses in all our tours where possible. We also support businesses that clearly demonstrate a strong commitment to the environment and their community.
Environmentally friendly customer gifts:
We’ve partnered up with Smart Way Builders who also operate The Timber Reclaimers. They recycle native timber from houses that they are renovating and produce cheeseboards, coasters and place mats.
Native timber removed from houses as part of their renovations were typically taken to the tip or burnt. Over 90% of timber removed is now recycled. As they say “Reclaimed, Recycled, Repurposed”.
For every tour booked with Kaewa Tours you will receive a set of coasters lovingly crafted from The Timber Reclaimers team. Learn more about The Timber Reclaimers here.
The Kaewa Tours coasters from The Timber Reclaimers.
Community support:
We support a fabulous local community group – The Kāpiti Kindness Trust.
For every Tour or Airport Transfer booked with Kaewa Tours we donate $5 to The Kāpiti Kindness Trust.
This is a new charity that was established by Clinical Counsellor Martin Sloman QSM. The support is specific to the Kāpiti area and hopes to help, facilitate and encourage the Kāpiti community to take greater care of both self and others.
As at 1 July 2023, Kaewa Tours have donated $1,195.00 to the Kāpiti Kindness Trust.
Learn more about The Kāpiti Kindness Trust here.
Presenting our initial donation of $100 to Martin Sloman from The Kāpiti Kindness Trust.
Vehicle policy:
During 2023, our plan is to move away from our 100% petrol vehicle to a Petrol-Hybrid vehicle.
By 2025 our plan is to move to full EV.