Hats off to Cardrona who have announced they will no longer order single use plastic bottles for sale in their food and beverage outlets.
This makes the South Island ski resort the first major tourism operator in New Zealand to do so.
Cardrona’s decision will eliminate more than 50,000 PET bottles from being produced, transported and sold on the mountain every year.
Many single use plastic bottles are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and have a significant carbon footprint with production and transportation plus the use of more single use plastic in shrink wrapped packaging.
The alpine resort will use alternatives to PET bottles that include fresh and carbonated water stations, aluminium cans, and glass. Aluminium cans are easy to recycle, and light to transport – especially when empty and crushed.
Where alternatives to specific products cannot be found in New Zealand, the decision has been made to discontinue ordering and selling them.
This move was made as part of a wider goal to move Cardrona from a linear to a circular economy, and to continue working closely with suppliers and other industry leaders to lead sustainable change.
“We are very aware that we have a strong voice, both within our community and the wider ski and tourism industries,” says Cardrona General Manager, Bridget Legnavsky.
“It’s so important for us to be leaders and show that change can be made to give mana to our people, our environment and our future.”
This isn’t the first time Cardrona has led significant change. In 2018, the resort stopped using single use crockery and coffee cups. Other initiatives have included recycling the resort’s buildings and infrastructure in a major development project over the last four years. Cardrona was the first tourism operator worldwide to be awarded an Excellent “As Built” rating by the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia (ISCA) for the McDougall’s Chondola project.
On a larger scale, the resort has also launched the Cardrona Foundation this year. Current initiatives include a karearea observation and protection programme, a massive replanting programme, a programme to allow every child in the region to ski or snowboard, and a project to bring Maori culture to the mountain.
The Cardrona Foundation was created as a central organisation of change for all Cardrona’s wider sustainability goals.
