Sustainability at Riverside - Club Holiday Resorts

Sustainability at Riverside Resort

Gumbaynggirr Country

Riverside is proud to be a Quality, and Sustainable Tourism Accredited Business

What is sustainability?

Sustainability is when you are meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

At Club Holiday Resorts we are passionate about sustainability, community and culture, and prioritise people, places and our planet.

Our mission is to provide value to our members, guests and local communities, and create an inclusive environment where everyone can enjoy life and create memories regardless of their abilities, and our vision is to make a positive difference to the quality of people’s lives which includes the communities where our resorts are located on the lands of the Gumbaynggirr, Worimi and Dhurga Peoples.

At Club Holiday Resorts, we have created a range of Policies & Procedures that foster inclusion. We employ locals and support local businesses wherever possible, we aim to minimise our carbon footprint and reduce waste, and we recognise the Gumbaynggirr, Worimi and Dhurga custodians of the lands, and their connections with nature, we promote nature based and First Nation’s experiences so that our guests can enjoy a connection with the local land whilst visiting one of our resorts, and learn why it is so important to tread lightly and leave only footprints.

Our Sustainability Initiatives

Aboriginal Culture

We are committed to continue to incorporate the local Aboriginal stories and language into our resorts, online and with signage; as well as promote local Aboriginal experiences to our guests wherever we can. Our Club Holiday Resorts have an Aboriginal Employment Policy in place and strongly encourage Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders to apply for any advertised positions.

Water Savers

Our apartments have A4-signs with water saving tips in bathrooms, and during drought/dry-season, buckets are provided for guests to water the gardens surrounding their apartment with their shower water. As our apartments are self-serviced, linen doesn't require daily washing saving precious water.

Recycling

Recycling bins and information are provided under the kitchen sink in each apartment for our guests to recycle their paper, cardboard, glass and hard plastics. When guests vacate the resort at check out, we ask that they place their recycling in the large recycling bins provided at the resort entrance and towards the rear of the resort. We offer separate bins for bottles and cans to be recycled at our nearest Return and Earn station.

Non-Toxic Products

All cleaning products used are eco-friendly and GECA Certified biodegradable. All our apartments are stocked with Earth Choice products. We use safe-for-staff and guests Enviro Air-freshener when making up rooms. We have reduced pesticide use throughout the resort grounds, replacing with natural alternatives.

Power Saving

All resorts lights have been converted to LED where possible. Apartment reverse cycle air-conditioners require a key and can only be used when guests are in the apartment. Apartments are self-serviced so reduce environmental impact of energy usage required for daily washing and cleaning.

Employment & Procurement

We employ locals to support our local and surrounding communities at all our holiday resorts. It is important to us that, where possible, we source products and services for our resorts from local businesses to support local communities and their economies, as well as lowering our carbon footprint.

Green Office

herever possible, we source office products locally to lower our carbon footprint and support local businesses. We recycle and reuse where possible to avoid waste. We try to maintain a paperless office using cloud based storage systems. Our Ecotank printers use less ink and don't rely on refillable cartridges, and when needed, we use recycled printing paper.

Nature Pond

Our nature pond is not only a natural feature within our resort grounds neighbouring the pool on one side and the golf-course on the other, but is a haven for native wildlife. The pond also collects and filters storm-water run-off. We use bore water to top up the pond in times of drought.

What we are working on now

Coffee Pods

We will be changing over our apartment coffee machines with Mini Ess ones that take Biocap biodegradable coffee pods made from sugar cane and sugar beet that decompose in 12 weeks, replacing the currently used plastic pods supplied in our apartments. We will begin rolling out our coffee machines and pods from June 2023, beginning at Riverside. However, this process make take some time so that we are not being wasteful of our existing machines.

Sustainable Bathroom Products

We are currently researching and trialling new environmentally friendly bathroom products that are paper wrapped or come in bottles made from recycled plastics. Riverside will be initially trialling the Herbology range, and aim to implement the best new product line over all three of our resorts in the near future - stay tuned!

Electric Vehicle Charging

Seaside Holiday Resort in Fingal Bay has already installed an Electric Vehicle Charger at the front entrance of their resort grounds thanks to the NSW Government and the Electric Vehicle Council's Round 1 of their NSW EV destination charging grants. We aim to install further stations at our other resorts in the future.

Earth Check - Sustainability Training

Club Holiday Resorts Marketing team completed sustainability training as a part of the ‘Destination NSW Sustainability Skills Micro Credentials’ program. This program has given us greater insight into how our Club Holiday Resorts can become truly sustainable tourism operators, and what we can do to further reduce our footprints now and into the future.

We have now begun rolling out this training for staff across all three of our holiday resorts and Club Holiday Resorts’ Federation management. We have also begun the process of putting together a Green Team with representatives from each of our resorts and a detailed Sustainable Management System to operate alongside our Operations Management System, ensuring we have guidelines and processes in place to manage, evaluate, and improve our sustainability at our holiday resorts, and ensure our success in reaching our sustainability goals.