When it comes to leading the charge on environment sustainability, voco Kirkton Park in the Hunter Valley get the green thumb of approval.

With a range of programs and facilities being implemented through onsite initiatives, Kirkton Park are committed to sustainability that is geared at preserving and supplementing the beautiful nature of the Hunter region.

Not only has the hotel implemented a spectrum of onsite sustainable initiatives to protect the planet, voco Kirkton Park have also shaped their Meeting and Events arm to encourage clients, guests and partners to do so as well.

Versatile, convenient and inviting facilities, combined with a ‘Meet for Free’ policy, ensures a steady stream of conferences and meetings to voco Kirkton Park – which is counterbalancing meeting and event carbon emissions with its unique ‘Trees for Bees’ program.

The enterprise has been developed to minimise the hotel’s impact on the local environment and provide flowers for bees, the world’s most important pollinator of food crops.

To do so, voco Kirkton Park calculates the carbon footprint of every event it hosts and offsets emissions by planting the number of trees to create a carbon neutral effect.

Additionally, through its partnership with Carbon Neutral Australia, voco Kirkton Park Hunter Valley are encouraging these organisations to take additional steps by planting a tree for every attendee and by providing them with statistics to enable them to take further action in best offsetting their event’s carbon emissions.

voco Kirkton Park General Manager Penny Crossley, who has trained with Climate Reality Project founder Al Gore and is now a mentor of the program, says the hotel believes the best approach to reducing its environmental impact comes from working together with guests and partners.

“In addition to our onsite solar farm, vegetable garden, bee farm and other waste reduction initiatives, we are planting trees to future-proof our region,” Penny said.

“And we believe working with the organisations we work with is the best way forward.”

Penny said that the hotel has been steadfastly pouring its efforts into becoming a sustainable business, particularly so in the past eighteen months.

Part of the IHG Group of hotels, voco Kirkton Park participates in the group-wide ‘Green Engagement’ program.

Under the program, Penny says that voco Kirkton Park can record their carbon production.

“Year-on-year we have reduced our carbon emissions by twenty per cent, energy usage by twenty per cent, water usage by thirteen per cent and increased our recycling by twenty-six per cent,” Penny said.

Adding to their green philosophy, voco Kirkton Park provide a paddock-to-plate experience, with their own vegetable garden and onsite beehives.

“It’s our aim to be producing eighty per cent of our vegetables grown on site in the very near future,” Penny said.

As for other areas of sustainability, voco Kirkton Park meeting rooms are powered by their solar farms, the gardens watered with recycled water and resident farm animals ensure that landfill and waste is kept to a minimum.

“It’s nice to know we are protecting and safeguarding the incredible environment we’ve been blessed with. After all, it’s the bounty of the Hunter Valley that sustains so many local businesses and it’s vital we respect that by playing a part in protecting it for future generations,” Penny said.

IMAGE | voco Kirkton Park leading the way for a more sustainable future in the Hunter