Toadbury Hall Country Estate near Lanseria, Johannesburg, has become the first South African property to be certified as a responsible tourism business by the GreenLine Responsible Tourism Certification Programme.
GreenLine is the latest offering from the Heritage Environmental Management Company. Unlike Heritage’s Environmental Certification Programme, which is an internationally benchmarked system for larger hotels, groups and resorts, GreenLine has been developed to meet the needs of smaller accommodation establishments that have fewer than 20 rooms.
Not only does it offer independent recognition of responsible tourism practices, it is also compliant with the soon to be introduced National Tourism Responsible Standards.
“We joined GreenLine because we wanted to be committed to sustainable environmental practice. We have started making small changes in the hotel and have had an amazing response from guests and staff alike.
“We hope to see many more of the other small country houses in the area commit to the GreenLine programme,” says Kim Gibson, Toadbury Hall’s General Manager.
Following the completion of the online application and evaluation process, an on-site audit was conducted by GreenLine to verify that all the programme’s requirements were being met.
What impressed GreenLine most was the degree to which the property supported local suppliers and home industries for items as such as cheese, milk, jam and preserves to guest amenities.
In addition to its green purchasing process Toadbury Hall is directly involved with a number of local charities and has taken well-considered steps to reduce consumption of water and energy.
Its waste management entails separation of all recyclable waste, including cooking oil, which is taken by a local farmer for use in biofuel production.
Toadbury Hall has been awarded a silver classification by GreenLine in recognition of its efforts and commitment to changing the way in which it conducts its business activities.
“While the responsible business practices at Toadbury Hall are still at an early stage and there is still a lot to do, management is committed to meeting even higher standards of compliance in its ongoing efforts to position the property as one of South Africa’s most responsible tourism products,” says Greg McManus, Managing Director of the Heritage Environmental Company.
Source: Indaba Daily News
