Heritage Awali, a green mind-set

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) October 25, 2011 -- It is already a year ago since the Heritage Awali adopted a very ambitious environmental charter - a way of consolidating the initiatives it has undertaken in recent years under the guidance of General Manager Lindley Thomen, while setting out new goals as well. The project led by Resident Manager Christophe Ramdiane and department managers, is the result of a collective commitment supported by constant communication, awareness raising and the involvement of staff.

Reduce, recycle and more...

Two years ago all beverages in cans and plastic bottles were removed from the bars and restaurants, and replaced by drinks in pressurized reusable cylinders or in returnable glass bottles. At the same time the hotel began composting all green waste, setting up a special area to carry this out on a large scale, with staff trained in how to do this by a scientist from the University of Mauritius.

In 2010 , in partnership with women farmers from the Bel Ombre Foundation for Empowerment, the hotel started holding a weekly "bazaar" to give its employees access to the benefits of fresh produce harvested in the region. Shortly afterwards, a vegetable garden was built in the grounds of the hotel and it is maintained by volunteer employees. The many vegetables that are grown without chemical fertilizers and sold at low cost to staff are a way of promoting the concept of food self-sufficiency, eco-friendly agriculture, the value of working the land and good health! The hotel, which already has a beautiful garden filled with a huge variety of both native and exotic species, has developed in 2009 an area specially dedicated to endemic trees.

2011, a new impetus

After the launch of the environmental charter that takes a comprehensive approach, other new initiatives have been started over the last few months.

For example, the hotel has installed the infrastructure necessary for collecting rainwater. The system filters the rainwater so that it is potable. In terms of energy, the hotel began replacing traditional bulbs with energy efficient bulbs in the rooms some years ago. The gardens now have at least 50% LED lighting (in partnership with DurablEnviro), controlled by a photo-sensitive switching system, limiting energy consumption to what is only strictly necessary.

As far as waste management is concerned, Heritage Awali has passed a new milestone in the Heritage Resorts CSR project in conjunction with the Bel Ombre Foundation. For a year now Heritage Resorts has partnered with "Grit to Gilt", a project to start up a business for the collection, recycling and recovery of waste. After a lot of work including the funding of the group, the small community business is about to become operational. Waste plastic, glass and paper which will be collected from Heritage Resorts, including the Awali, will then be processed and resold, thanks to this project which is the only one of its kind in Mauritius. In a few weeks time we will give you news about to the roll-out of the project.

Heritage Awali also collects batteries that it has used and invites its guests to do the same by means of a highly visible collection point. In the same collective spirit that characterises all these initiatives, employees also bring their used batteries from home as well as their old newspapers.

On 23 September Heritage Awali added a new item to its waste management strategy: equipment to deal with organic waste from the kitchen. Forty members of the staff from Heritage Resorts at the Domaine de Bel Ombre were trained to use the new state of the art equipment from Sweden.

The team at the Heritage Awali is ready to take on a new challenge to lessen its environmental footprint.

In six months the results will be assessed and then the project will be rolled-out at all Heritage Resorts !

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