Responsible Tourism

White Island Tours ™ is aiming to achieve sustainability across all aspects of the business. Our emphasis is on minimising the impact on the environment, educating staff and customers, supporting the local business community and developing employees while at the same time growing customer numbers and achieving financial health (see our Responsible Tourism Statement below).

Responsible Tourism Statement (Summarised)
Our business is committed to Responsible Tourism and accepts an ongoing responsibility to reduce environmental impact and contribute positively to the community. We see sustainability as an ongoing journey that will improve with time and experience. In order to achieve this we pledge the following:

To think before we buy
To think before we use
To think before we discard
To protect wildlife and natural habitats
To educate and grow
To commit to legal compliance

Qualmark Responsible Tourism
Qualmark is New Zealand Tourism’s official quality mark. It provides international and domestic visitors with a means of identifying professional and trustworthy New Zealand tourism businesses.

Qualmark recognises sustainability in the form of a Responsible Tourism Award for which businesses are assessed on their environmental performance, including initiatives in energy efficiency, water conservation, waste management, conservation and community activities. White Island Tours ™ is proud to currently hold a Qualmark Responsible Tourism GOLD award for both our motel and our tour.

Photo credit: Nico @thekiwifrog

What we do

Environmental Champion
We have appointed an Environmental Champion to make sure all of us keep up environmental standards and walk the talk. In particular, our Environmental Champion is responsible for educating our staff, customers and suppliers and for monitoring the effectiveness of our practices.

Our Buying Policy
White Island Tours ™ has a buying policy (Purchasing Criteria Checklist) that incorporates sustainability and it is integral to how we source products, equipment, fixtures & fittings, choose our suppliers and so on. Wherever possible, we use suppliers who show a commitment to the environment. We also use printing companies (Centurion Print & Whakatāne Printers) that employ sustainable practices such as using soy based prints, water based coatings, paper from sustainable forests etc.

Many of our suppliers such as Jasco Distributing actively source environmentally friendly products for us.

Recyclable lunch containers for our tour sourced by Jasco Distributing

Conservation
Whakaari/White Island is a unique wonder that we are privileged to be able to showcase to a wide range of visitors each day, and our company is committed to ensure is preserved for future generations.

Because of this, it comes as no surprised that our main conservation cause is, Whakaari/White Island. White Island was designated a private scenic reserve in the 1950s. White Island Tours is always striving to ensure minimal impact on the environment in which we operate. Some of the ways in which we preserve this unique environment are:

A “Users Group” which we formulated in 1997. This includes the operators who use the island, GNS (Geological & Nuclear Sciences) and the owners of Whakaari/White Island. Together this group determines, amongst other things, a set of “best practice” guidelines for reducing the impact our operations make on the island.
Having no man-made structures on the island – apart from the remains from sulphur-mining days, a safety container and scientific monitoring equipment.
Restricted access since 2004 – only those being guided by official operators, are permitted on to the island and overnight stays are no longer allowed.
A policy that nothing is to be taken off, nor left on the island. Ongoing marine litter collections (litter washed up on the beach) are undertaken by our crew. No food is served on the island.
Adhering to a single trail on the island to ensure minimum human impact.
Placing moorings in Crater Bay so that we no longer need to drop our anchors, thereby disturbing the sea bed. These moorings are also used by other vessels.
Educating visitors on the potential impact of their visit (we impart information on our environmental practices several times throughout our tour.

Supporting Other Conservation Initiatives
We also provide support to other conservation efforts. In particular:

Department of Conservation’s Kiwi Trust
Birds-a-Plenty week
Te Paepae o Aotea Marine Reserve
Sports Bay of Plenty Conservation Week

Photo credit: Neil Robert Hutton

Community Involvement
White Island Tours ™ is proud to support our local community. One significant initiative has been setting ourselves up as a Booking Agency in 2009 to promote other tourism businesses, provide business for them and ultimately keep visitors in the area longer.

We have a special relationship (and are trustees) with our local Coastguard and support them their various activities and fundraising projects.

We work together with other businesses to develop our community and the tourism industry. These include Chamber of Commerce, Bay of Plenty Sustainable Business Network, and Tourism Bay of Plenty.

We have also formed long-term relationships with various community groups, through continued sponsorship, working with other businesses to develop our community and the tourism industry, and through mentoring the community in the form of presentations, committee participation, providing work experience and assistance to tertiary students with their assignments and research.

We encourage school and university groups to visit Whakaari/White Island by providing an Educational Rate in the off-season and our guides visit schools in the off-season to educate children on White Island and the marine environment.

It is our policy that, wherever possible, we buy locally and endeavour to buy products made in New Zealand. We are also proud of our record of employing locally.

Waste Management
White Island Tours ™ is committed to managing waste responsibly. In fact, on our boats we have almost achieved zero waste. Key areas where we reduce waste are:

Recycling – we recycle whatever we can, from paper to printer cartridges to staff uniforms. Even old equipment, furniture etc is donated to staff or the community. Placing recycling bins in convenient locations, including our motel units, and providing only very small rubbish bins encourages better recycling by staff and customers.
Organic waste - all food scraps are donated to a local pig farmer, leftover coffee grinds are given away to our customers for compost on their gardens, boat lunches are designed so that they can be prepared just prior to departure, therefore eliminating leftover food. Our café's “specials” dishes are designed in accordance with local produce available and with leftover supplies to avoid wastage
Reduced paper usage – using both sides of paper, administration practices that reduce the need for printing eg: sending invoices and making payments electronically.
Biodegradable, recycled and natural products – using these wherever possible as well as selecting products that meet recognised environmental criteria.
Hazardous waste disposal – we have procedures in place to ensure that everything from paint tins to light bulbs is disposed of in the most responsible way possible.
Recycled and recyclable - our unique boarding passes (see below) are old metal milk and cream separator discs which we reuse time and time again. We’ve actually used the same discs since 1997!
Pollution Prevention - we endeavour to keep our use of toxic substances to a minimum by actively sourcing the most environmentally friendly cleaning products we can, having very controlled dispensing systems and also by using alternative cleaning methods that eliminate the need for cleaning products at all eg: We clean our boats with CT18 (a biodegradable cleaning product) but use special scrubbing pads (Stainless Restorers) to get the tough marks off. We are transitioning in the use of static mops in our motel complex.

We have taken into account noise pollution when designing our vessels. The engine rooms of the boats are insulated with a very high grade of marine insulation. This makes them soundproof, therefore reducing noise levels.

Our boats are fitted with sewerage holding tanks so ideally, we would like to see marine sewerage pump out facilities on the Whakatāne Wharf so that waste can be emptied on shore for treatment. We have advocated our local authorities to install such facilities and will continue to do so.

Energy Efficiency
Our Energy Management Policy includes instructions for staff on how they can make a difference in reducing energy usage. Some of the ways in which we reduce our energy consumption are:

A “Switch Off” policy for equipment and lighting when not in use. Signage in our motel rooms encourages guests to turn off power as well.
A “Replacement Policy” so that when appliances, light bulbs etc come to the end of their life, they are replaced by energy-efficient alternatives.
Strict in-house cleaning and maintenance schedules to ensure everything is running efficiently at all times. We “Anti Foul” the boats annually, rather than the normal two years, as regular maintenance of the hull means less resistance in the water and therefore diesel is conserved.
Encouraging responsible laundry practices by both staff and customers, including a “Linen Policy”, giving our guests the option of reduced laundering.
Energy efficient design of our motel complex and vessels so that air conditioning and heating units need only used minimally. On our boats, there are extra doors to help with air flow as well as large covered areas over main doors.
Deep-cycle marine batteries to supply vessels’ power away from berth. These batteries charge up when the engines are running, meaning that our boats generate their own power.
Conserving diesel through energy-efficient engines, maintaining cruising speeds at a steady 18-20 knots and supplying boats daily (nothing is stored) to reduce weight.
Diesel use is monitored monthly to alert us to any problems.

Water Management
Our Water Management Policy includes instructions for staff on how they can make a difference in reducing water consumption. We endeavour to conserve water in the following ways:

Water-saving fixtures and devices eg: salt water flushing toilets and taps on the boats; aerators on all our taps to restrict water flow; strainers in our café sinks so that we don’t have to use waste disposal units; dual-flush toilets; water level adjusters on our washing machines.
A “Leak Detection Programme” encouraging both staff and motel guests to report leaks immediately. Our Environmental Champion monitors water consumption monthly.

Trigger guns on our hoses
Mainly succulents and grasses in our gardens as they don’t require much water.

Photo Credit: Kelsey Waghorn

What you can do to help!

If you are a customer of ours, we seek your support.

As a passenger on our tour:

Please be careful with your litter (it can easily blow away on a windy day!). Our crew are happy to take any rubbish off your hands.
Please refrain from taking any “souvenirs” off the island, even though it is tempting to do so.
Please stick to the trail on the island to reduce the effects of human impact.

As a motel guest:

Please use the recycling bins in your rooms.
Please turn off lights when you leave your room or if lighting is not required, switch off any appliances (like your microwave and kettle) at the wall when not in use and report any leaks.
If you are staying more than one night, hang your towels up to indicate that you don’t require fresh ones and request to have your sheets changed less frequently.
If doing your own laundry, please use our drying racks rather than our dryers, do cold-water washes and use the water level adjustment switches on our machines.

As a café patron:

Please choose to have your refreshments in the comfort of our café, rather than take away.
Please try to make do with the paper napkin you are given, rather than help yourself to more.

As a Gift Shop customer:

Please choose not to use a bag for your purchases.

Other ways in which you can help:

Consider walking to our departure point from your accommodation. If you are staying with us, we are within walking distance to town, cafes and restaurants and supermarkets.
Do not throw our brochures away after use. Either take them home as a souvenir, put them in a recycling bin (or give them to us to recycle) or, better still, pass on to another traveller.
Take the time to fill in our survey forms – they give you the opportunity to comment on our environmental practices and make any suggestions.

Please help us to look after our precious corner of the world.