Vacation with a Green Conscience at Matava Fiji's Premier Eco Resort | Peachy Green

Matava Fiji's Premier Eco Resort is big fun on a small energy budget

Let’s be realistic. Travel usually leaves a big carbon footprint. Even among the most eco-sensitive of us, its hard to get away without wasting energy and using fuel.

But, you can vacation with a green conscience atMatava Fiji’s Premier Eco Resort. Located on Kadavu, south of the main Fiji island, Matava is a100% off-grid, solar powered resort that uses minimal electricity while providing maximum fun!

Only 22 guests at a time can be accommodated at Matava. All meals are prepared on site and served community style.

Matava offers diving, snorkeling, fishing, kayaking, boating, ocean swimming, bird watching and more. It is nestled near the beach, surrounded by tropical rain forest. Because there are no roads that reach this area of the island, everything must be brought in or out by boat – or grown locally. When I visited last week, the main attraction for the other guests was the amazing scuba diving (something I will have to take up soon!)

Day dawning at Matava Fiji's Premier Eco Resort

Matava has its own organic gardens which provide fruits, vegetables and herbs for its menu. Extra seeds are provided to families in nearby villages, too. Several times a month, recyclable materials from Matava – including plastics and paper – are picked up and hauled out by boat. No pesticides or herbicides are used at the resort.

Matava Fiji’s Premier Eco Resort has been awarded a number of honors and accolades as a result of its green practices. These include:

• Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Award, Marine Environment Category (World Travel Show 2010)
• Excellence in Tourism Award (Accommodation Budget 1999)
• Project Aware Marine Environmental Award
• Founder: Shark-Free Marina

Pristine, preserved environment at Matava on Kadavu, Fiji

Several important causes of Matava Fiji’s Premier Eco Resort are:

• Saving sharks
• Educating villagers about environmental preservation
• Minimizing energy use
• Working to establish and maintain marine reserves
• Coral reef education and preservation

Not only is Matava involved in education and raising awareness locally concerning environmental issues, but the resort also has resources for its guests to review.

Community outreach is a primary focus of Matava, as well. The owners believe that, by teaching young children the importance of sustainability and preservation at an early age, they will grow up with a deep understanding of and respect for natural resources.

Can you believe it – a resort that not only conserves energy and helps the environment as a result of its own practices, but also works to encourage others to do the same!

Yes, you can vacation with a green conscience at Matava Fiji’s Premier Eco Resort.

Vacation with a Green Conscience at Matava Fiji's Premier Eco Resort | Peachy Green

EC3 Global launches Green Globe Lite

Green Globe Lite, a global on-line program released today, will – for the first time – provide tourism operators with a user-friendly, affordable tool to measure their business’s carbon footprint and environment performance. The program targets small to medium-size businesses (SMEs) which make up a large percentage of the tourism industry.

Green Globe Lite’s operational health check involves a quantitative assessment of the business's performance in the areas of energy consumption; CO₂ emissions; water consumption and waste production. It also provides guidelines for developing and implementing a sustainability policy. It meets international standards for carbon footprint calculation and is backed by the STCRC (Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre), the world's leading tourism research body, which is in turn backed by 17 of Australia's leading tertiary education institutions and industry bodies.

“While the final structure of the Federal Government's carbon pollution reduction scheme is still to be determined, SME tourism operators are recognising the benefits of measuring their environmental performance. Apart from the operational efficiencies, there are demonstrable bottom line benefits of significantly increased savings and profits through better resource management,” explained Stewart Moore, CEO of EC3 Global. EC3 Global manages the Green Globe programme on behalf of Green Globe Asia Pacific.

Melbourne City Council's Savings in the City project benchmarked 20 city hotels for energy, water and waste and introduced sustainable practices. Over two years from October, 2005, the selected hotels saw a combined reduction in waste of 2410 tonnes, or the equivalent of 628 truckloads. One hotel spent $4000 on reducing the energy used for lighting. The changes implemented saved the hotel $15,000 per year in energy costs, and a further $7500 on maintenance.

Incorporating feedback from a series of industry workshops undertaken with Australian Hotels Association (AHA) in 2007, Green Globe Lite addresses sustainable practices within accommodation, restaurant and spa operators; visitor information centres and administration offices. The program has been applauded by the Australian Hotels Association, which is promoting Green Globe Lite to its members. 

“The partnership between the AHA and Green Globe provides hotels across Australia with an affordable, easy-to-use tool to measure and assess their environmental performance. It provides a clear pathway for them to adopt sustainable policies and practices,” said AHA Chief Executive Officer Bill Healey.

At A$850 per annum, the Green Globe Lite program is an investment of only A$2.30 - or a cup of coffee - a day and is undertaken without a third party audit or additional third party input. For further information on Green Globe Lite, visit www.greenglobe.org/greenglobelite or call +61 (0) 7 3238 1900.


EC3 Global launches Green Globe Lite