Here at Twin Waters, we feel privileged to live in this beautiful environment. We believe in protecting this superb area of Golden Bay and particularly the Twin Waters setting.
We believe that our guests who venture this far from “civilisation” and take on the Takaka Hill will think as we do and act responsibly. A copy of the “Eco-wise travel guide” from the New Zealand Ministry for the Environment is available in this compendium, and we are pleased to make a copy for you to take away if you so wish.
At Twin Waters we rely heavily on nature to produce our power and water, and assist us in managing waste. We also try to minimise our dependence on external energy.
We try to depend on external resources as little as possible and to minimise our local environmental impact.
Water: Our water supply is rainwater, collected from the roof and stored in x2 25,000 litre tanks. This water is filtered before use and is generally considered safe to drink, however for drinking water we recommend you use water from the special faucet in the guest lounge, or from the front of the kitchen refrigerator; both are additionally filtered.
Our waste water disposal is managed via a series of underground treatment tanks, followed by a large sand-bed reservoir.
To manage use of our limited supply of water, and to minimise our environmental impact from waste water, we have taken the following steps:
All our shower heads have water flow reducers to limit the outward flow. Our water supply is limited and while we do not want you to stint on enjoying our wonderful hot showers, please be mindful of this precious resource.
Our showers are cleaned with as little use of cleaner as possible. To this end all are “Vitroglazed” and mostly need only a rub-down with a microfibre cloth.
With the exception of the disabled compliant toilet in Naigani, all our toilets have special ceramic coatings. This ensures we use the least possible amount of cleaner, to protect both our disposal system and the environment.
While we do not routinely change your linen on a daily basis, towels and bed linen are changed for three night stays or longer. This policy saves water and the putting of chemicals into our grey water system. If you require more frequent changes, you have only to let us know.
Please note our toilets are dual flush to save water. Please use the small flush (press main and central silver buttons together) for liquid waste and the full flush (press the large button only) for solid waste.
Solid Waste: We compost all kitchen food waste and we recycle all glass, cans, paper, cardboard and plastic. Please put all rubbish in the rubbish bin provided and we will sort and dispose of this appropriately, on a daily basis.
Energy: Our hot water is solar driven, although there is an electrical booster heating system in place if the solar heating should prove inadequate. We have installed substantial rooftop solar power generation, with a capacity of 6 kW that provides most of our electric power during the day, and exports the excess to the grid.
We use a mixture of lighting appliances here at Twin Waters. Ambient lighting for the rooms and most of the exterior lighting uses high powered LED lights, which supply great light for very little power usage (3 watts per unit). Elsewhere, we have used low wattage lights for general lighting, but incandescent (quartz halogen energy efficient) lights are used for task lighting, to give high quality light for reading.
Our exterior lights are automatically switched, so they will not be on when not needed, and we ask you to please switch off room lights when not needed, to conserve power. Exhaust fans in the bathroom turn off automatically several minutes after the lights have been turned out.
All the windows in the guest accommodation are double glazed. We do not have air conditioning but the summer winds are usually enough to cool your rooms. If you are cold, there is a good “old-fashioned” heater in each wardrobe.
Whenever weather permits, all our laundry is air dried on clotheslines at the south end of the property.
Guest amenities: We do supply toiletries for your use: Dispensers in the showers provide “Eco-Fresh” ecologically friendly hair shampoo, conditioner and bath gel. This system avoids waste from packaging of small amounts of these amenities. Our other amenities are Health Pack NATURAL EARTH guest amenities. Health Pack are the only manufacturer of 100% New Zealand made guest amenities and they make everything from the bottle & cap to the label, and most importantly, the contents. Packaging is made from recycled materials, and is recyclable. All of their toiletries are made from a 100% vegetarian base and contain no animal by-products and they test their formulations on humans, not animals.
Presented in recycled, corrugated board, “Natural Earth” displays wildlife and flowers from New Zealand. In addition to its overall quality natural Earth is complemented by environmentally friendly packaging. Every bathroom has a natural fragrance dispenser. If you require a separate deodorizer please let us know.
The main house has insect repellents powered by battery in the kitchen and dining areas. These dispense natural pyrethrum spray. Should you require this amenity in your room, please let us know.
Please let us know: Thank you for taking the time to read our eco policy. Many of you come from environments with advanced eco and sustainability practices. If you have any ideas about how we can reduce our environmental footprint, we would love to hear it.
Thank you,
Mike and Trish
Eco policy V1.2 updated 1/3/2011
