Tag Archive for: environmental management

A new view at Buccaneers

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It takes hard work and vision to build a world that works

Getting lost in Cintsa is as easy as pronouncing its name is not – “Tsk”-IN-t-SAH. Along the way, you’ll see marvellous aberrations, I mean adaptations of the word on road signs advertising everything from trees to beer. Very entertaining.  Maybe that’s why I struggled to find it.  Maybe it was Google Maps’ crowd-sourced content or the receptionist’s colourful directions. It definitely doesn’t matter; I’m not the first to get lost in the sticks and I won’t be the last to look upon this piece of the Eastern Cape coastline with wonder.

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Pulling in to Buccaneers in time for a delicious dinner, I dined with the co-owner, Sean Price, a marvellously incisive and passionate man who approaches his work responsibly and efficiently.

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Going greener is ideal, but easier in some ways than in others and small businesses have a big challenge here. Growing herbs and harvesting rainwater –  which they do – is not quite as complicated (or as expensive) as going off-grid, which they’d like to do. For any existing tourism and hospitality business to serve both the law and the land, this usually means major changes to existing infrastructure and a significant investment in appropriate alternative energy. Speaking of which, Buccaneers is busy changing its garbage disposal process in alignment with new regulations. “We manage ALL our waste ourselves,” Sean pointed out before outlining how they are continuing their existing commitment by upgrading their processes at their own expense. Buccaneers is also Fair Trade Certified since 2010 and believes that business can be an instrument of change as long as it’s economically viable.  The question of whether business can, by itself, afford to invest in the gamut of sustainable solutions still sits in my mind next to the question of whether we can afford not to as a species. I left the dining room deep in thought.

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My home for the night was a stylish wooden house on stilts called Biko. I’m glad my host did him justice by giving me a lot to think about and that the finishes were clean and fine to calm me. In that little palace with its wonderful view of the river opening out into the ocean, I pondered the balance of things in the company of complimentary beach towels, polished floors, and a beautiful shower. Would I give aspects of this up for Mother Nature? Would I need to if products and services that serve the earth were cheaper? Can the consumer subsidise this, or must government?  Having failed to solve the problem of this aspect of the human condition in one evening, I went to sleep with the song of the ocean wafting up through the windows.

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Tip : get up extra early for spectacular sunrises.

To find out more about the social and environmental priorities focussed on at Buccaneers, visit their page on Eco Atlas.

For me March will always be Water Month

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A guest blog from Environmental Manager Carlene van der Heiden. See her page on Eco Atlas.

In a world where there are so many ‘green’ products, ‘sustainable’ practices and ‘environmentally friendly’ options, it is often difficult to tell which ones are taking you for a ride. I think that’s the most important job that Eco Atlas plays in this constantly changing and ever emerging field of environmental management. I’m an environmental manager by profession, and although the basics of ecosystem functioning, biological diversity and pure science stay the same, the things I’ve learnt since leaving university have boggled my mind. This makes making the right choice a complicated thing to say the least!

Not only does the ethical directory provide you with peer reviewed places, products or services for you to choose, but the blog provides you with tips, which you can implement to get up there on the list too!

To me March will always be Water month, because World Water Day falls within it, and all of South Africa is bound to get some rain falling from the sky in March! It is also the most important resource we have, and we should protect it at all costs. Water is life, and acid mine drainage and pollution of rivers is destroying our life source. Excessive water use is wasteful and unnecessary and should be curbed by promoting better planning (such as watering your gardens before 10:00 and after 16:00, so as to reduce loss during the heat of the day). Water is scarce in South Africa, with a low average annual rainfall of 464mm, so we should use what we get from the skies at any opportunity, as pumping municipal water to your taps costs electricity too (which is a whole other kettle of fish).

For those wanting to reduce their water use, I would suggest a water audit as the first point. You can’t manage what you can’t measure and so you will need to see what you are currently using, compare it to industry standards, and then see how much you can reduce it. Once you have this data you can then set yourself a target, and put objectives in place to achieve these targets. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is true water saving a quick fix, so give yourself a realistic time frame. A huge requirement for this type of change is that everyone is on board, and, most importantly understands what their responsibility is. Education is key and should be an integral part of your strategy.

If you would like more information about a water management system within your organisation or assistance with a water audit, please contact me on carlenevdh@ncc-group.co.za.