Our Environmental Footprint

With our location on the boundary of the World Heritage Fiordland National Park, the team at Cabot Lodge are incredibly conscious of how precious our natural environment is. Our family have long strived to protect our pristine surroundings and we thought we should share some of the work we have been doing to preserve our environment and reduce our carbon footprint. 

We are excited to have developed a native tree nursery over the last twelve months, growing native plants from foraged seedlings. These seedlings are eventually planted across the property as well as donated to environmental projects in the Fiordland area to ensure we are able to reach our aim of planting 500 trees each year. 

We also maintain 20 hectares of forestry on the property to assist us in reaching our carbon neutral footprint as a farming and Lodge business. 

Extensive trapping on the property and at the Lodge ensures our native flora and fauna are protected. We continue to trap stoats, possums, rats and rabbits, with all traps monitored and recorded so that we can track the health of our environment. 

We are continually developing wetland areas across the property, currently expanding our third and largest lake, which can be viewed from the Lodge. These bodies of water assist in increasing the biodiversity of our farm, and of course help our native bird populations. To ensure the health of these wetlands, we have invested in a solar water aeration system, which is our first foray into harnessing the power of solar, but certainly won't be our last. 

Central to our guest experience at the Lodge is our farm to plate ethos. We have two glasshouses and three outdoor vegetable beds and we rejoice in knowing there is no more than a few steps from farm to plate. Our guests are currently enjoying Lodge strawberries, raspberries, zucchini, carrots, spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, a variety of herbs, spring onions, green beans, radishes and so much more. 

All food scraps at the Lodge are well taken care of, with no food reaching landfill, instead feeding our ten lovely laying hens, two miniature horses, as well as our worm farm and compost system. 

An extensive recycling programme goes without saying, with all plastics, aluminium, glass, paper, and cardboard separated and recycled through our local recycling plant. We have worked to eliminate the vast majority of single use plastics from our operational supply chain, and our Lodge suites now contain no single use plastics. It is our aim to produce only one bag of waste per fortnight. An aim we will continually improve upon. 

We know it is important for our guests to feel that we are not only protecting and maintaining our environment, but also ensuring all of our personal products are free from toxins and harsh chemicals. We therefore make all of our own bath salts and soaps, utilising only natural ingredients, including Epsom salts, lavender, and coconut oil. All of our bathroom amenities are free from animal testing, sulfates and palm oil. Our suites are also cleaned without toxic chemicals, instead harnessing the power of natural agents such as vinegar and tea tree oil. 

As a family, we continue to support a number of environmental trusts and charities to ensure that our actions extend beyond our own gate. We know that our current work programme is only the beginning, and we have so much more to achieve. We value our interactions with our guests about the work we are doing, and we welcome input from both our guests and wider community. We know more than ever, that every little action helps.

Posted by Cabot Lodge on April 01, 2022