Millennium Hotels & Resorts New Zealand - Environmental Policies, Hotel News & Updates



At Millennium, Copthorne and Kingsgate Hotels and Resorts New Zealand, we understand that our business and our activities have an impact on the environment in which we operate. We recognise that we need to look at the impact that our operations have on the environment (local and global) and take steps to achieve sound environmental performance.

We have identified our main environmental issues as being: the disposal of waste; efficient use of raw materials; and the use and conservation of energy and water. We therefore aim to make decisions that address these issues in an environmentally considerate and efficient manner without compromising the quality of our product and services to our guests.

>> Click here to view the Millennium Hotels & Resorts New Zealand Environmental Policy
>> Click here to view the Eco Wise Guide, which will be rolled out and found in all Hotel compendiums

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Environmental News - Copthorne Hotel & Resort Bay of Islands a member of Project Island Song

November 2009 -  Copthorne Hotel and Resort, Bay of Islands is a member of Activate Northland working to assist Northland businesses and communities maximize and manage sustainable economic benefits of increased visitor numbers. 

Their commitment has been to set up recycling for paper, tin and aluminum cans, glass, cardboard, plastic milk bottles, food scraps and cooking oil and guests staying more than one night are given the option not to have their room serviced. Savings from this exercise are donated to the charity “Project Island Song" on Urapukapuka Island. Click here for more information. 

 

The hotel is committed to carry out beach clean up programs on an ongoing basis to support the local community, and have replaced all bin liners with bio-degradable bags in all guest room rubbish bins. They pump and filter their own water from a bore which is also supplied to their neighbors. Hot water is produced by solar power from 35 panels located on the roof of the new bedroom wing, with the primary usage being for guest rooms with any surplus heat being used to heat the spa pool. 

The hotel is also near their goal of replacing all light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs and have a number of other initiatives: the waterfalls in the pool area are on a pump and recycle system, the hotel grows it's own herbs and composts all green waste.
Click here to view more information about Project Island Song.

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Environmental News - A Golden Green Moment for Millennium Hotel Queenstown

August 2009 - Millennium Hotels & Resorts are delighted to announce that Millennium Hotel Queenstown is the first Queenstown hotel to be endorsed with the Qualmark status Enviro Gold. This establishes the hotel`s position as a premier environmentally aware accommodation provider in the region. This status is awarded to tourism operators displaying an outstanding commitment to environmental and social practises, and is Qualmarks` highest award for responsible tourism.



The award recognises the significant steps taken to achieve sound environmental performance without compromising product and service quality to guests.  For tourism businesses, this means meeting requirements and actively participating in the areas of energy efficiency, waste management, community activities and water conservation. For visitors, it means that the Qualmark represents an environmental and social commitment from the hotel, as well as general quality indicators.

Innovative thinking and community action have contributed to the Enviro Gold endorsement. All staff at Millennium Hotel Queenstown have been actively involved with Pigeon Island: Involving clearing vegetation, planting native Southern Rata Trees, helping with track maintenance, removing non-native plants and replacing and updating the existing signage.

Further innovations have included the diversification into the Farming Industry by implementing a `worm farm` on the grounds of the Copthorne Hotel & Resort Queenstown, Lakefront. With hotel food waste from kitchens and restaurants being processed in the worm farm. The worm farm produces Vermacast – or worm juice which is very high in nutrients and is being used as a liquid garden fertiliser in the gardens of Millennium Hotel Queenstown. Click here for more information.

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Environmental News - Kingsgate Hotel The Avenue, Wanganui sponsors Kiwi named "Dottie"

May 2009 - Bushy Park and the Kingsgate Hotel The Avenue, Wanganui are doing their bit for kiwi recovery.  It’s been a bumper year for Bushy Park’s kiwi creche programme in Wanganui, as the battle goes on to save the endangered bird. Bushy Park Sanctuary is part of a conservation programme - BNZ Operation Nest Egg - that has been put in place to slow the decline of kiwi and hopefully reverse their numbers. Under the programme, Kiwi eggs and chicks are removed from the wild, hatched and raised at Bushy Park until they are big enough to fend for themselves, and then returned to the wild.



Bushy Park conservation officer Bryan Christie says the sanctuary has been building up the number of chicks it takes each year - this season more than 20 chicks will go through the creche, its biggest number ever. Most are being sponsored locally. The chicks, from the Rimutaka Forest Park, Waimarino Forest, Tongariro Forest Park and the Taranaki Kiwi Trust, were hatched at Kiwi Encounter in Rotorua. "They come in here (to Bushy Park) at three to four weeks of age and are raised," says Bryan. "The latest, Dottie, was released back into the Waimarino Forest a few weeks ago." Dottie was sponsored by the Kingsgate Hotel The Avenue, Wanganui and named after hotel owner Dot McKinnon, and spent eight months creching.

47 kiwi chicks have been successfully creched and released back into the wild. Sponsorship is a big part of the kiwi creche programme and enables the Bushy Park kiwi team to continue the day-to-day running of the facility, research into better rearing practices and kiwi advocacy. The Kingsgate Hotel The Avenue, Wanganui is proud to be associated with Bushy Park.

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Environmental News - Millennium, Copthorne & Kingsgate Hotel staff from
Queenstown get involved with Pigeon Island Restoration Community Project

April 2009 - Staff at the Queenstown Copthorne, Millennium & Kingsgate Hotels decided to get involved with the Queenstown Lake District Council  in volunteering their time for the Restoration of Pigeon Island. Nine staff spent their day on the island clearing vegetation &  planting native Southern Rata Trees, helping with track maintenance, clearing vegetation & and walking around the island with a wheelbarrow, cement & sign posts to replace existing signage.



All three hotels are now involved in Sustainable Tourism & have all been part of the Qualmark Enviro Awards. The Copthorne Hotel, Queenstown Lakefront have been awarded an Enviro Silver award through Qualmark which truly is wonderful to have achieved. Over the last year the Hotel has been determined to be as sustainable as possible & has many initiatives in place. The Hotel even has its own “Worm Farm”.

Staff have embraced the idea of being a sustainable Hotel and the “Pigeon Island “ project is just one of many community projects the hotel has been involved with.  Also part of the Queenstown Sustainable Business Programme, the Hotel would sincerely encourage other Queenstown Business’s to get on board and join in, in making Queenstown a “renowned” Sustainable Resort.

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Environmental News - Millennium Hotel Christchurch update!

Millennium Hotel Christchurch is a 5 Star luxury hotel located in the iconic and picturesque Cathedral Square. Just across from the Christchurch Cathedral, the hotel is in the heart of the city - with all that the central business district has to offer for attractions, shopping and entertainment. While other facilities in the city such as the Christchurch Convention Centre, Town Hall, Arts Centre and Casino are just a few minutes walk from the hotel.



Millennium Hotel Christchurch is committed to providing its guests and employees with a smoke-free environment, and as of the 1st of January 2009, the entire hotel (including private accommodation rooms, public areas, restaurants and bars) will all be designated non-smoking. Click here for more information.

On the 1st of January 2009, Millennium Hotel Christchurch further added to its efforts to reduce their impact on the environment, and formed a new partnership with the Untouched World Charitable Trust, to support this environmental cause through various initiatives at the hotel. A new and innovative option for guests has been introduced to launch the partnership that contributes to reducing the impact on the environment and generates support for this valuable cause, in the form of a "Going Green" door hanger which offers guests staying more than one night the option of declining to have their room serviced.  Click here for more information. 

>> Click here to view Millennium Hotel Christchurch Environmental Sustainability Practices
>> Click here to view Millennium Hotel Christchurch Guest Options

>> Click here to complete the Millennium Hotel Christchurch Environmental Feedback Form

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Environmental News - Our two Copthorne Hotels in Christchurch: Central and Durham Street

December 2008 - Christchurch Hotels Complete Waste Audits.  The Copthorne Hotel Christchurch, Central; The Copthorne Hotel Christchurch, Durham St and the Millennium Hotel Christchurch all recently completed Waste Audits to gain a better understanding of their waste output and to review current procedures. The Waste Audits were the first step in the Christchurch City Council run Target Sustainability Programme. It was “all hands on deck” when the General Managers & staff members at each of the hotels donned overalls and gloves to assist with sorting and separating 3 days worth of rubbish.  Not a fun task but good commitment shown by those involved.

 

  By measuring the types and quantity of waste generated by the hotels they will now have a clearer picture of where they can reduce and recycle different types of waste.

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Environmental News - Kingsgate Hotel Palmerston North update!

Tourism New Zealand’s “100% Pure" international marketing campaign has been very effective in portraying the country’s natural beauty. Moving forward, New Zealand is challenged to meet the expectations of savvy travellers, both international and domestic, who require not only authentic experiences set in our stunning sea to mountain landscape, but with minimal environmental impacts.



Staying in commercial accommodation is an integral part of the visitor experience. Until recently, as the region’s largest hotel with 151 rooms, the Kingsgate Hotel Palmerston North generated an excessive amount of rubbish at a high financial cost. Despite being a city with a strong recycling culture in both residents and schools, many businesses in the area don’t recycle, and until now haven’t been incentivised to recycle. The team at Kingsgate Hotel Palmerston North saw the opportunity, and with assistance from Awapuni Sustainable Development Centre and TBL Solutions very quickly underwent a waste audit and introduced a recycling policy.

>> Click here to view more information about Kingsgate Hotel Palmerston North's Green initiatives

October 2008 - The Staff at Kingsgate Hotel Palmerston North, put their hands up for going out with Green Corridors and planting trees to enhance our City’s walkways. Two Teams competed against one another and between them planted 700 trees. That’s 39 trees each in 1 ½ hours! They created a place where they can take their children in the future and say "I helped plant these". Well done for paying it forward. That’s what it is all about.



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Rotorua Sustainable Tourism Charter - Millennium Hotel Rotorua & Kingsgate Hotel Rotorua

Both Rotorua Hotels are part of the Rotorua Sustainable Tourism Charter: to create a sustainable tourism industry by committing to continual improvement in strategies that protect the natural and physical environment. Following consultation with the Rotorua tourism industry and with other stakeholders, the following Charter Foundation has been developed:

1. Promote a safe, enjoyable and informative experience for all visitors.
2. Ensure tourism is supported by the Rotorua community and tangata whenua.
3. Protect and enhance all natural and human environments.
4. Promote efficient use of all natural and human resources.
5. Ensure compliance with all legislation.

Signatories to the charter are expected to support the Charter Foundation through specific actions. The word "environment" in the charter vision has a wide definition and includes natural and physical elements, people, communities and structures. The reference to "continual improvement" is important. The philosophy behind the charter is that some improvement is better than no improvement at all. As long as the tourism sector is moving towards sustainability, it is moving in the right direction. Therefore, the charter’s vision links to the Charter Foundation through the philosophy of continual improvement. A charter member is bound to show continual improvements, no matter how small, towards creating a sustainable organisation.

 

Millennium Hotel Rotorua initiatives have seen the set up of recycling for paper, tin and aluminium cans, glass, cardboard, plastic milk bottles, food scraps and cooking oil. We have removed plastic bags from all guest room rubbish bins reducing the number of plastic bags to the local landfill by over 166,000 bags each year.  The hotel is also near their goal of replacing all light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs. The geothermal converter is used to harness geothermal energy to heat the hot water and provide heating in the winter – a huge effort towards reduction of electricity consumption and lowering CO2 emissions. Gas flares and heaters are on timers. The waterfalls and fountains in the hotel are on a pump and recycle system, and they also grow their own herbs in the central garden.

>> Click here to complete the Millennium Hotel Rotorua Environmental Feedback Form

The Kingsgate Hotel Rotorua have set up recycling processes for paper, tin and aluminium cans, glass, cardboard, plastic milk bottles and cooking oil. They have changed their plastic bags in guest room rubbish bins to biodegradable bags to limit the amount of plastic staying in the landfills and have also centrally located recycle bins for guest use. All light bulbs have been changed to energy efficient bulbs where possible, and they utilise where possible, chemical free pest control including in their courtyard gardens.

>> Click here to view more information about  the Rotorua Sustainable Tourism Charter Commitment

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The Millie & a NZ Falcon named "Millennium"

Millennium Hotel Rotorua’s sustainability policy involves supporting the local community and the Hotel is a strong supporter of local schools, community groups and Clubs. Amongst these is the Wingspan Birds of Prey Trust which is supported by sponsoring a New Zealand Falcon Karearea named Millennium. This sponsorship has additional sustainability benefits as many falcons reared by Wingspan are used by the winemaking industry as a more neighbour friendly option than making loud noises to controlling pest birds. 



The New Zealand Falcon only live in New Zealand and is a threatened species, in danger of extinction. The Falcon worldwide is a fearless predator and is the world’s fastest bird with speeds up to 230 km per hour. They have been clocked at more than 17 g-forces and have eyesight 8 times better than our own. For more information visit www.wingspan.co.nz.

Environmental News - Millennium Hotel Rotorua

News Release 17 Dec 2008: Millennium Hotel Rotorua has once again achieved a high scoring Four Star Plus Hotel rating as well as an ‘Enviro-Gold’ status from Qualmark, maintaining its premier position in Hotel accommodation providers in the city. As New Zealand's official mark of quality for tourism, Qualmark has extended its environmental and social assessment criteria. For tourism businesses, this means meeting requirements and actively participating in the areas of energy efficiency, waste management, community activities and water conservation. For visitors, it means that the Qualmark® represents an environmental and social commitment from the hotel, as well as general quality indicators.

>> Click here to view more about Millennium Hotel Rotorua's Enviro-Gold Status

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Environmental News - Kingsgate Hotel Autolodge Paihia

October 2008 - The Kingsgate Hotel Autolodge Paihia, has recently completed the commissioning of its new $100,000 solar hot water system. Being located in the north of New Zealand, it seemed logical to use the long hours of sunshine to heat the hot water for its rooms and services. The owners of the hotel decided to install this latest system after the success of installing a solar hot water system in their new block of 36 rooms which was opened in December 2006. The hot water for all 100 rooms, 13 suites, hotel laundry, restaurant and bar is now all provided by solar energy. The latest installation was made possible with the help and assistance of the Solar Water Heating Innovation Fund from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA).

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Environmental News - Kingsgate Hotel Brydone, Oamaru

The Kingsgate Hotel Brydone, Oamaru actively promotes in-house recycling in all areas of hotel operations. All waste produced by the Hotel is split into: food, glass, bottles, tin-plastic, cardboard/newspaper/magazines and general waste. Not only has this decreased waste produced by the hotel in terms of awareness but has also decreased their charge for rubbish collection.

The Hotel is eagerly awaiting the new "green information" cards for all rooms to ensure their environmental stance is distributed widely so that guests know that they can help too. Many guests are already contributing, by leaving bottles and newspapers separately from other rubbish which helps the housekeeping department recycle.

  Environmental News - Copthorne Hotel & Resort Solway Park, Wairarapa

The Copthorne Hotel & Resort SolwayPark, Wairarapa is well on the way to going "Green" with many in-house ‘green’ initiatives now put in place.

Recycling: The resort recycles all glass, plastics and cardboard. They are recycled at our local Wairarapa Recycling Depot. The majority of hotel food waste is also offered to local pig farmers. 

Green Garden: Within the resort grounds, we have our own substantial herb garden and citrus fruit trees which provide fresh produce for all menus at The Grill at Solway Park, The Bar at Solway Park, Café Solway and all conference and function catering. This offers our guests fresh ingredients grown right on our doorstep.



Chemical-Free Cleaning: All of our accommodation rooms are now cleaned with an environmentally-friendly, chemical-free product called Enjo which is a system of cleaning with fibre cloths made of raw materials with a plant base. Enjo helps eliminate chemical use and sprays, reduces the amount of water consumption and used fibres and empty bottles are returned for professional recycling. 

Energy-Saving: To reduce in-house energy consumption, all accommodation rooms have been fitted with energy saving lighting. 87 rooms have heat pumps which have reduced room heating costs by a quarter compared to our previous electrical panel heating. Our eco-friendly heat pumps also provide the comfort of room cooling in summer months. Water heating is now gas for the kitchen and 31 rooms, which provide a large saving in electrical water heating costs. 

Decreasing our Carbon Footprint: Within the 24 acres of park-like grounds, hundreds of native and non-native trees & plants have been added, helping decrease our carbon footprint.